New Delhi: Amid strained relations between the two parties, the Congress Monday joined forces with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in alleging voter list manipulation under the watch of Election Commission of India (ECI), days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged duplication of voter card numbers.
In a statement issued hours after the TMC held a press conference in Delhi to amplify Banerjee’s allegations, the Congress called the latest revelations “shocking”.
The Congress’s Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) said, “The cover is now blown. It is clear that the ruling BJP wins or attempts to win elections by manipulating voter lists in connivance with the Election Commission. Which is why the process of appointment of the Election Commissioners is so critical to the Narendra Modi government that it subverted a Supreme Court ruling to have a balanced committee to appoint Election Commissioners.”
This comes after TMC chief Mamata last month announced plans to fight the 2026 West Bengal assembly polls solo, ruling out the possibility of an alliance. However, the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee appeared more accommodative. He had said that the TMC was prepared to contest the elections alone if Congress was unwilling to explore seat-sharing, placing the responsibility on the largest partner in the INDIA bloc to break ranks with the Left to consider a potential tie-up.
These statements came amid rumblings within the INDIA bloc following the Aam Aadmi Party’s defeat in the Delhi assembly election on 5 February.
The main thrust of TMC’s allegations was that multiple voters in various states had been issued similar elector photo identity card (EPIC) numbers. On Sunday, the ECI admitted that it had happened due to “a decentralised and manual mechanism”, but asserted that it would not open up the possibility of bogus voting as other details, including demographic details, assembly constituency and polling booth, are different in the voter IDs.
At the press conference, TMC Rajya Sabha Leader Derek O’Brien offered his “limited appreciation” of the EC for “admitting but not accepting the error”. “In the next 24 hours, we humbly ask the EC to also accept the error. If not, we will share a document at 9 am on Tuesday morning,” O’Brien said.
Without naming the TMC, the Congress said that there were some “startling developments” on the issue of voter list manipulation that have surfaced.
“The same voter ID number is being used for several voters, both from the same constituency in the same state as well as from other states. This is utterly shocking. A unique voter ID for every Indian voter is the fundamental requirement and premise of a clean voter list,” the principal opposition party in the Lok Sabha said. “Multiple voters having the same voter ID number is as bizarre as multiple vehicles bearing the same registration number in the country. It is unheard of in any electoral democracy.”
The Congress had formed the EAGLE in February, citing the need to keep a “bird’s eye view” of elections across states, and “monitor the conduct of free and fair elections by the Election Commission of India”. The party has suggested that alleged manipulation of electoral rolls played a role in its defeats in Maharashtra and Haryana, a claim rejected by the ECI.
Last month, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had also submitted a dissent note at the high-level meeting, where Gyanesh Kumar was picked as the new Chief Election Commissioner. Gandhi had asked the government to defer the meeting in view of the ongoing Supreme Court case pertaining to the process of selection of the CEC.
On 2 March, 2023, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners should be undertaken by a committee comprising the PM, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India.
In his dissent note, Gandhi had pointed out, “Unfortunately, soon after the Supreme Court order, the Government of India notified a legislation in August 2023 that bypassed the spirit and the letter of the Supreme Court’s order. This is in flagrant violation of the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court order.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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