The party also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, had "stolen" previous elections.Jairam Ramesh alleged that most of those whose details were altered belonged to a particular community. The Congress on Saturday demanded an impartial investigation into the country's electoral rolls and an immediate halt to the special intensive revision (SIR) process after alleged errors emerged in the voter list for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council election, news agency Press Trust of India reported.The party also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, had "stolen" previous elections, including the 2024 Lok Sabha election and several Assembly polls."Our clear demand is that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign immediately, and an immediate halt be imposed on this fake SIR process being run with the intent of benefiting the BJP," Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X while sharing a media report."An impartial investigation into the voter list must be conducted, the complete machine-readable data must be made public, and the protection of every eligible citizen's voting rights must be ensured," he said.
Ramesh said the Election Commission could not blame software for what he described as a "premeditated conspiracy orchestrated to help the BJP". Citing discrepancies in voter names such as "Ram Ne Yadav Ko Mara", "Murkh Chandra Yadav" and "B.
Com", he asked how it could be claimed that similar errors had not occurred in other elections."Has the integrity of India's democracy and the voter list been left entirely to the mercy of software and ECINET? The responsibility lies with the Election Commission, not the software," Ramesh told PTI.
He said a statement by an election official reinforced questions raised by two Election Commissioners and the Opposition's belief that the Election Commission was being run in an unconstitutional manner.Ramesh also referred to an earlier case in Pilibhit, where he said the details of 10,470 voters had been altered using the Election Commission's Form 8 even though no supporting records were available. Form 8 is used by registered voters to request changes to details such as their names or addresses.He alleged that most of those whose details were altered belonged to a particular community that the BJP had "consistently persecuted"."Such discrepancies raise suspicions of a conspiracy to deprive them of their voting rights at the time of polling.
Additionally, complaints have been received about names going missing from the voter list issued after SIR and incorrect details appearing when searching for online EPIC numbers," he said.Ramesh said the Election Commission had not yet provided the machine-readable data sought by the Congress and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi."Only when the full data is made available can a clearer investigation be conducted into the extent of irregularities in the voter list and questions of accountability," he said.Noting that only a few months were left until the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Ramesh said the cases raised serious questions about voting rights and electoral transparency.He demanded an impartial investigation into whether the prescribed rules for issuing notices and holding hearings had been followed while adding or removing names from the electoral roll."The very SIR, whose declared objective was to purify the voter lists, has instead cast doubts on their reliability. The suspicion in the minds of the country's people—that election theft occurred in the previous Lok Sabha elections and in states like Haryana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, etc.—is now turning into conviction.
We firmly believe that the BJP has won by colluding with the Election Commission to steal elections," Ramesh alleged.He also said the prime minister and the BJP were launching personal attacks on Rahul Gandhi instead of responding to his questions about alleged vote theft."The BJP should know that the country has recognised its petty tactics over the past twelve years. Now, this will not work again and again," Ramesh said.The Congress has been opposing the SIR of electoral rolls and demanding that the exercise be stopped.
Earlier this month, the party and other members of the INDIA bloc held protests, met President Droupadi Murmu and filed a petition before the Chief Justice of India against the exercise and the Chief Election Commissioner, seeking his removal.The party has reiterated its demand for an independent inquiry, publication of complete voter data and safeguards for every eligible citizen's voting rights.- Ends