UP Congress alleges voter discrepancies were being corrected through Form-8
The party alleged the errors were the Commission’s responsibility and said voters received no acknowledgment slips in some cases.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress has accused the Election Commission (EC) of attempting to cover up electoral fraud by requiring voters with discrepancies between their details and their EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Card) to fill out Form-8 during a special voter campaign. The party claims that this occurred after the final list released under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in April, making it the EC's responsibility to rectify the issue.
During a vote jodo camp organized at various polling stations in Pilibhit Assembly Constituency, Ballot Paper Lenders (BLOs) allegedly instructed voters with discrepancies to fill out the Form-8, which was pre-filled with correct details by the BLOs themselves. Kumud Gangwar, a whistleblower and former general secretary of the UP Congress, stated that these forms were unnecessary as the voters only had to sign or put a thumb impression.
Anas Khan, the coordinator-cum-signatory for the UP Congress dealing with Election Commission-related matters, argued that the discrepancy was caused by EC staff and should have been corrected by them. Khan further alleged that the EC was attempting to shift blame onto voters by presenting the Form-8 as proof, thereby protecting the responsible officers and employees.
The issue was recently highlighted when discrepancies were found in the voter details of 13,150 voters in the 127-Pilibhit Sadar assembly constituency.
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