The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday rejected allegations by opposition parties of large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls, asserting that any genuine errors should have been raised during the designated claims and objections period before previous elections. The Commission maintained that its procedures were designed to ensure transparency and accused the parties of failing to use the appropriate institutional mechanisms when they had the opportunity.
In a statement issued from New Delhi, the poll body said, “Recently, some political parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in the Electoral Rolls, including those prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims and Objections period of that phase, which is precisely the objective behind sharing the Electoral Rolls with all political parties and the candidates.”
The ECI argued that the accusation of “vote theft” being levelled by opposition leaders, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, was misplaced. “Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM EROs to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those elections,” the statement noted.
It further stated that electoral rolls are shared with political parties well in advance of each election to allow for close scrutiny and rectification of data where needed. “The Commission welcomes the scrutiny of electoral rolls by political parties. It will help SDMs/EROs to remove the errors and purify the Electoral Rolls, which has always been the objective of ECI,” the poll body said.
The comments were issued after Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Commission had effectively collaborated with the BJP in manipulating voter lists and claimed to have an “atom bomb” of evidence to prove his claim. Using the example of Mahadevapura assembly seat in Bengaluru Central, Gandhi accused the Commission of deliberately inflating voter lists to benefit the ruling party.
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The ECI has dismissed the allegations and asked the Congress leader to submit a formal complaint with an affidavit. However, Gandhi said that he had already sworn an oath to the Constitution and would not be submitting any additional affidavit.
Tejashwi Yadav, former deputy chief minister of Bihar, also alleged that the Commission had issued duplicate Elector Photo Identity Cards to BJP leaders and workers. He claimed that the voter list in Bihar’s special intensive revision was manipulated to disenfranchise voters from certain communities.
The Commission has convened a press conference on Sunday in order to clarify its position further and respond to the charge that the recently conducted Special Intensive Revision in Bihar was designed to facilitate “vote theft”.
Meanwhile, political analysts pointed out that the Commission’s reminder about the claims and objections period is significant, as electoral rolls are routinely displayed publicly for objections before finalisation. Under the Representation of the People Act, voters and parties are entitled to appeal against entries they consider erroneous. Once the roll is finalised, however, technical changes can only be made through revised schedules.
ECI officials said the entire revision process is subject to verification by designated Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and that “no change in the rolls” is possible unless verified by local officers and sanctioned according to prescribed norms.
Opposition parties have nevertheless vowed to continue raising the issue. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that “institutional accountability” is required and that the current situation “cannot be brushed under the carpet”.
The controversy comes at a time of intensifying political confrontation, with general elections due in less than a year. Parties across the political spectrum have become increasingly vocal in their criticism of the ECI, accusing the institution of bias in favour of the ruling party in the recent past.
Union government sources, however, dismissed the allegations and called on the opposition to “respect constitutional institutions instead of discrediting them”.
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