Vote theft charge baseless if no proof given in 7 days: CEC to Opposition

Stung by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of "vote theft", the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday said "those persons who were calling voters criminals" should either submit a signed affidavit regarding their claims in seven days or apologise to the nation.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said if no affidavit was submitted within seven days, then it would mean that all allegations of vote theft were "baseless".

"Either apologise to the nation or back your allegations regarding vote theft under oath. If it is not received within seven days, then it will mean that all allegations are baseless," Kumar said.

However, the CEC evaded the questions on why Rahul was asked to submit an affidavit, while when BJP leader Anurag Thakur levelled allegations of vote theft on seats held by Opposition like Wayanad, Kannauj and Rae Bareli, no such demand was made.

In fact, he said if anyone wished to file a complaint without being a voter of that constituency, it could be done only as a witness under oath.

Answering a volley of questions on fears of deletion of names of voters from Bihar's draft electoral rolls, Kumar reiterated that without any proof, no valid voter's name would be deleted.

"We stand as a rock with voters... If anybody thinks that by giving one PPT, which does not contain our figures, one can claim that people might have voted twice, that is not the case. How can we remain quiet on such serious allegations?" Kumar said.

He claimed that the poll body was being used as a launchpad to target voters for political motives.

“If the infirmities in electoral rolls are not being highlighted within the prescribed time frame, or an election petition isn’t filed in the high court within 45 days of voters selecting their representatives, and then wrong words like ‘vote chori’ are used to mislead the citizens, then isn’t this an insult to the Constitution?” Kumar said.

Further attacking the Opposition for its allegations regarding the addition of "fake" voters in Maharashtra, where the state Assembly elections were held in November 2024, the CEC sought to know from the Opposition why no objections were filed when the draft voters' list was declared.

"When the results came, then the Opposition remembered that it was wrong. To date the CEO of Maharashtra has not received any complaint regarding fake voters with proof from the Opposition, even though eight months have gone by since the Assembly elections," Kumar added.

Defending the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, the CEC said the exercise itself means that the voters' list would be made afresh.

The CEC also said the EC had already complied with the Supreme Court’s directive issued on Thursday to publish the list of 65 lakh names deleted from the draft electoral roll published by it on August 1 pursuant to the poll roll revision in Bihar.

“We created district-level portals within 56 hours,” Kumar said, adding that voters could now check the deletion status online.

Talking about the SIR exercise in West Bengal and other states, Kumar said a decision would be taken collectively by the three Election Commissioners.

"...The three Election Commissioners will hold discussions and then decide when the exercise of SIR will be carried out in West Bengal or other states," he said.

Responding to queries regarding the number of Bangladeshis or other illegal immigrants found during the SIR in Bihar, Kumar said people had been asked for documents to establish their identity. Kumar also clarified regarding other charges in relation to electoral rolls.

Questioning voter information and photos being made public, he rejected the claims of being biased. He said, “As per the law, every political party is born after registering with the EC. So how can the EC be biased against any such party? For the EC, there is no Opposition and no ruling party. For us, all are equal.”

Regarding the "House number zero" issue flagged by parties, he said it arose as several voters did not have a home, or their homes had not been given numbers by the panchayat or their respective municipality.