New Delhi: During the winter session of Parliament the Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had called for a detailed discussion on the electoral rolls.
The Congress and its allies had claimed alleged discrepancies in the Maharashtra voter list for the 2024 assembly election and duplication of Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) numbers. Prior to this Rahul Gandhi had also alleged that close to 3 million voters had been added in the electoral rolls of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2024.
The charge of incorrect or manipulated voter rolls was also labelled by the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Admi Party in Delhi.
Now, sources in the Election Commission say that the allegations were made were without due fact. According to the sources, hardly any first or second appeals were made under Section 24 of the Representation of People act, or correction of any entries in Electoral Rolls (Section 22) or Inclusion (Section 23) during the recent Special Summary Revision published on January 6-7 2025.
The Special Summary Revision (SSR) involves reviewing the voter list and unveiling a draft electoral roll. It is often held prior to elections and aims to uphold a just and transparent voting process by adding newly eligible voters, including those who have reached 18 years of age or changed their constituency. It also involves the elimination of duplicate and deceased voters.
According to sources just 89 appeals were recorded in Maharashtra. While there were 13,857,359 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) in the country only 89 appeals for changes in the electoral rolls were made.
Therefore, there is no option but to accept the Electoral Rolls published after the completion of SSR in Jan 2025 as undisputed by all.
Sources in the EC further say that Section 24 of RP Act 1950 was added on September 20, 1961, much before the current Chief Election Commissioner was even born.
If anyone says that Electoral Rolls on which voting has been held is not correct, they have not even cared to follow the election law as proposed by the Government in 1961 and passed by the Parliament in 1961, the sources added.
With elections due in Bihar and other states in the next few months, the opposition parties are likely to raise this issue further. But the EC, which in the past has maintained duplication of EPIC numbers does not "imply duplicate/fake voters", has stood its ground and released data to prove its point.
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