New Delhi [India], March 10: Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday raised concerns about the integrity of voter lists across India, calling for a discussion in the House on the issue. Gandhi pointed out that questions regarding the voter list have been raised in multiple states, including Maharashtra, where concerns over the use of black-and-white voter lists have surfaced.
“The question is being raised on the voter list in every state. In Maharashtra, questions were raised on black and white voter lists. The entire opposition is saying that there should be a discussion on the voter’s list,” Gandhi said.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy also raised concerns, stating that the same Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers were appearing in the voter lists of Haryana and West Bengal. He highlighted serious flaws in the voter lists of Maharashtra and Haryana and claimed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) must address these issues ahead of next year’s elections in states like West Bengal and Assam.
Roy emphasized the need for a complete revision of the voter lists, especially given the concerns raised by opposition parties.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh also accused the Election Commission and the central government of manipulating the electoral process by adding fake voters to the voter list. He claimed that the government had previously done this in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Delhi, and was now allegedly preparing to do the same in West Bengal. Singh warned that if the electoral process was not fair, only one party would continue to win, resulting in corruption.
On March 6, a delegation from the Trinamool Congress met with Election Commission officials in Kolkata to raise concerns over the same EPIC number appearing in multiple states. West Bengal Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, speaking after the meeting, called for unique voter ID numbers for each voter and physical verification to ensure the authenticity of the voter list. He also raised concerns about outsiders being given voting rights in West Bengal.
In response to these allegations, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee formed a committee to investigate potential irregularities in the voter list in every district of West Bengal. Banerjee accused the BJP of adding fake voters to manipulate elections, a practice she claimed had been used in Maharashtra and Delhi. She also alleged that the BJP, with the support of the Election Commission, had created a fake voter list to help them win elections.
However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) clarified on March 2 that identical EPIC numbers in different states do not necessarily indicate duplicate or fake voters. The ECI explained that this issue arose due to a decentralized and manual system that was used before the electoral roll database was shifted to the ERONET platform. The Commission assured that electors with identical EPIC numbers could only vote at their designated polling stations in their respective constituencies, addressing the concerns about voter fraud.