The Election Commission of India on Saturday accused the opposition parties of raising electoral rolls concerns at the wrong time, and set a press conference for Sunday that would start a statewide journey in the pole-bound Bihar with the Congress.
The Commission is scheduled to address a briefing at 3 pm on Sunday, as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi starts a 16-day “Voter Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar, which the opposition party says that there is a voter fraud through special intensive amendment (SIR), due to which 6.5 million people have been excluded from the state’s election rolls.
The Commission said in a statement on Saturday, “It seems that some political parties and their booth level agents did not investigate the electoral rolls at the appropriate time and if any, did not indicate errors for SDMS/Eros, DEO or CEO.”
Pol body said that parties are now raising concerns outside the specified process. “Recently, some political parties and individuals have been increasing issues about errors in electoral rolls, including electoral roles prepared in the past,” said this.
The Commission said that electoral rolls were a proper process to address concerns. He said, “The appropriate time to raise any issue with the electoral roll would occur during the period of the stages and objections of the phase, which is the purpose behind sharing electoral rolls with all political parties and candidates,” it has been said.
The Commission said, “If these issues were raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM/Eros to correct the mistakes, if the real, before those elections, the Commission said.
Typically, every year, the electoral rolls undergo summary amendment with the qualifying date of January 1, when 18 -year -old citizens become eligible voters. During this process, draft rolls are published, followed by a period of claims and objections for several weeks, where political parties and voters can challenge inclusion or exclusion. The final rolls are then published by 31 January, which provide several opportunities every year to check and correct electoral data through the legal channels established.
It is likely that he was referring to the draft rolls, but did not specify in his statement on Saturday.
The pole body will organize a press conference specialized by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and both Election Commissioners on Sunday, although the authorities have not specified the subject. People aware of the details said that the Commission will discuss “recent issues and allegations” about the Bihar verification campaign.
Officials aware of the case told HT that the presser is especially a reaction to the opposition’s concerns on the head of the Congress.
Gandhi has alleged “Vote Chori (Vote theft) “In Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana, accusing the pole panel of voter data manipulation. On August 7, he claimed that there were 100,250” stolen “votes in the Mahadevpura assembly segment of Bangalore Central, which helped the BJP win with the 2024 lock meeting.
The presentation inspired the immediate response from the Commission, which asked Gandhi to send a signed announcement and take an oath, supporting his allegations. Commission officials have urged Gandhi to either sign the oath or “apologize” for the nation.
The Commission said that he welcomes the investigation. “ECI welcomes the investigation of electoral rolls by political parties and any electoral. It will help SDM/Eros to remove errors and purify the electoral rolls that have always been the purpose of ECI,” it has been said.
