‘Mockery of democracy’: Congress leader after IE’s EC investigation

Gujarat Congress has demanded an explanation from the Election Commission (EC) regarding irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, as revealed by an investigation by The Indian Express on September 23. CLP leader and former Union minister Tushar Chaudhary expressed his concern, stating that the EC needs to address the serious allegations of irregularities in the SIR process, including voters being denied their right to vote and being dropped from the electoral rolls.

He emphasized that when the EC's own team members make such serious allegations, it amounts to a mockery of democracy, which is a grave matter.

Chaudhary mentioned that the Election Commission had received 14 complaints in the past 10 months from their own team members about serious irregularities in the SIR process. In Gujarat, the highest number of deletions among states that underwent the SIR in the second phase was reported, with 13.4% of voters (68.12 lakh) being removed from the electoral rolls.

When asked about the Congress's next move, Chaudhary stated that they had previously made representations to the Chief Electoral Officer, and now they will plan their next steps after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's press conference.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had visited Gujarat on a two-day tour on September 10-11 and had spoken extensively about the SIR process during his visit. According to The Indian Express report, Kumar claimed there were zero appeals filed against deletions in the 12 states where the SIR process was completed before district collectors.