Is the ECI Evading Responsibility Amid Serious Allegations?

New Delhi, Aug 16 (NationPress) Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal on Saturday condemned the Election Commission of India (ECI), stating that the electoral authority has crossed all limits of shamelessness by evading its responsibilities amid severe allegations regarding vote theft and widespread rigging.

His sharp response followed the ECI's earlier communication to political parties, emphasizing their duty in maintaining error-free voter lists. The Commission noted that 'some political parties and their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) did not review the Electoral Rolls at the appropriate time' and are now raising concerns about errors, including those in previously prepared rolls.

In a detailed post on X, Venugopal remarked: 'The ECI has crossed all limits of shamelessness by evading its responsibilities amidst serious allegations of vote theft and mass rigging. Constitutional bodies should embody integrity, not hide behind vaguely written press notes to evade accountability for undermining democracy. The burden of identifying the extent of their vote theft cannot rest solely on political parties and their BLAs.'

The senior Congress leader questioned the ECI's claim that 'utmost transparency is the hallmark of electoral roll preparation,' asking if the following actions align with their commitment to transparency:

• Withholding machine-readable rolls from parties, and removing already uploaded machine-readable versions of the draft SIR rolls
• Deleting CCTV footage within 45 days
• Submitting to the Supreme Court that it is not obligated to disclose the reasons for removing 6.5 million names in the Bihar SIR process
• Refusing to meet opposition MPs who sought to engage with the ECI.

Venugopal further criticized the ECI, stating: 'The tone of this press note raises significant doubts about the ECI's willingness to address public concerns regarding large-scale vote rigging conducted by the BJP-controlled ECI.'

He insisted that if the ECI truly 'welcomes scrutiny of electoral rolls,' then the Chief Election Commissioner and other EC officials must clarify why they continue to deny political parties access to machine-readable electoral rolls and why CCTV footage is being purged.

Earlier on Saturday, the Election Commission reiterated that India's electoral roll preparation is a 'multi-layered decentralized structure' involving Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are responsible for the accuracy of the rolls.

Once the draft voter lists are published, both digital and physical copies are shared with all political entities and uploaded to the ECI website, allowing a full month for claims and objections.

'Had these concerns been raised in a timely manner through the correct channels, it would have enabled the relevant SDMs/EROs to rectify any genuine mistakes before the elections,' stated the ECI.

The Commission reaffirmed its position, stating that it 'continues to welcome the examination of Electoral Rolls by political parties and voters' as it aids in cleansing the rolls.

This clarification comes amidst political tensions regarding discrepancies in voter lists in Bihar, where the opposition has accused the electoral body of negligence.

The timing is crucial, as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is poised to launch his yatra in Bihar, an initiative expected to intensify the political focus on the state's electoral processes.

The ECI emphasized that transparency remains paramount in the electoral roll preparation process.