The controversy has opened another political row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The allegations have been rejected by the BJP.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and escalated his “vote chori” charge against the Election Commission, after fresh reporting raised questions over the exclusion of 97 voters from Goa’s final electoral roll despite local election officials finding them eligible. Rahul Gandhi accused Kumar of overriding concerns within the Election Commission and offered him the chance to become an “approver”, or government witness, if an investigation is launched into the alleged irregularities.
Rahul Gandhi used the disclosures to mount a wider attack on the Election Commission. The Goa CEO’s clarification answers part of the second question by saying many of the affected voters have since been enrolled. The dispute over how the original exclusions occurred and the opposition’s wider allegations against the Election Commission remain politically contested.
Because the required software permission was controlled centrally, but Electoral Registration Officers were unable to reverse the earlier decisions through ECINet. Goa election officials had examined 97 voters whose names had earlier been flagged and found them eligible for inclusion, according to an Indian Express investigation. On February 18, an Election Commission official instructed the IT division that the system could not prevent action required under Supreme Court directions and asked that the necessary facility be provided. The final electoral roll was published on February 21. The Indian Express said its check found all 97 names absent from that roll. The Goa CEO’s office issued a clarification on Thursday, saying the 97 cases were subsequently taken up separately through house-to-house visits and Form 6 applications.
It said many of the voters had since been enrolled and the remaining cases were being processed, adding that no eligible voter would be left out.
