New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday alleged that the Election Commission stood “thoroughly exposed” not only for its “incompetence” but also for its “blatant partisanship”, soon after the chief election commissioner defended the SIR in Bihar and rejected as “baseless” the opposition party’s allegations of “vote theft”.
The Congress also termed as “laughable” the claims made by the EC that it makes no distinction between the ruling party and the Opposition.
Addressing a press conference here, CEC Gynaesh Kumar said the electoral roll revision is aimed at removing all shortcomings in voter lists and it is a matter of grave concern that some parties are spreading misinformation about it and “firing from the EC’s shoulder”.
Responding to the CEC’s remarks, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh asked whether the poll body will implement the Supreme Court’s August 14 orders in letter and spirit.
“Today, a short while after Shri Rahul Gandhi launched the INDIA janbandhan’s Voter Adhikar Yatra from Sasaram, the CEC and his two ECs began by saying they make no distinction between the ruling party and the opposition.
“This is laughable, to put it very mildly, in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary. Notably, the CEC answered none of the pointed questions raised by Shri Rahul Gandhi meaningfully,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
Claiming that what Gandhi has stated so far are based on the EC’s own data, he said, “The ECI stands thoroughly exposed not only for its incompetence but also for its blatant partisanship.” “All that matters now is simply this: will the ECI implement, in letter and spirit, the Supreme Court’s orders of August 14th, 2025 on the Bihar SIR process?” Ramesh said.
“It is constitutionally bound to do so. The nation is waiting and watching,” the Congress leader asserted.
In another post, Ramesh said, “Simple advice to the CEC: investigate, don’t intimidate”.
On the EC’s press conference, he said, “This was the first time this ‘new’ ECI was speaking directly and not planting through sources.” The ECI had on Saturday released a ‘Press Note’, the purpose of which was to place the onus of voter list correction on political parties and individuals, Ramesh said.
“This Press Note had also been met with uniform criticism from the opposition parties and widespread criticism from the general public.
“Today’s Press Conference also came three days after the Supreme Court had rejected every single one of the arguments made by the ECI to prevent the publication of the 65 lakh deleted voters during the Bihar SIR,” he said.
Despite the vehement and documented objections of the ECI, the Supreme Court directed the publication, in a searchable format, of these 65 lakh voters with all their details, Ramesh said.
“It had also allowed the use of AADHAR ID’s to be proof of voter identity. The ECI had opposed every single one of these instructions of the Supreme Court,” he said.
Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera took a swipe at the CEC and said the country came to know today that Gyanesh Kumar is the CEC as he came forward.
Till now, people thought some “source” named person was the CEC, he said.
“The script read out by CEC today was that of the BJP as he did not answer any of the questions raised by the Congress and Rahul Gandhi in the recent past,” Khera said in a video posted on X.
“We urge you to realise your responsibility…don’t be a part of the BJP’s plan of murdering democracy. Please do not read out a cheap script of a serial during a press conference and instead answer all the questions raised,” he added.
Earlier, CEC Kumar defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying some parties are spreading “misinformation and firing from EC’s shoulder”.
The CEC rejected as “baseless” the allegations of double voting and “vote theft” and asserted that all stakeholders are working to make SIR a success in a transparent manner, as the INDIA bloc parties launched ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in poll-bound Bihar against alleged “vote-chori”. PTI SKC KVK KVK
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