Chennai: DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday said the press conference by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday raised more questions than providing answers to the issues highlighted by the opposition INDIA bloc.
“How can there be so many deletions of eligible voters when house-to-house enumeration was undertaken? The enrolment of new voters is abnormally low. Were these young voters enumerated? Has any database been compiled to show how many youngsters who turned 18 on the qualifying date were included,” Stalin posed on X.
The DMK leader argued the procedure for enquiry and two appeals, along with their timelines as contemplated under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, may exclude a huge number of voters in the forthcoming elections in Bihar. He wanted to know how is the ECI going to address this issue. “Will the ECI take these practical difficulties into account while conducting SIR in other States,” he asked pointing out on July 17, the INDIA bloc had requested the ECI to delete the names of deceased voters from the rolls by undertaking the exercise contemplated in its May 1 notification. He sought to know when this would be done.
“What prevents the ECI from enlisting Aadhaar as one of the acceptable documents to prove a voter’s claim? If ‘Fair Elections’ is truly the aim of the ECI, why can’t it be more transparent and voter-friendly,” he further asked.
