TMC joins Congress for discussion on voters’ list: ‘Serious flaws… EC has failed’

“There are some serious flaws. This has been pointed out earlier with regard to Maharashtra voters list. This was pointed out in the list of Haryana. Now they are preparing to jump on Bengal and Assam also, which have elections next year,” Roy said, and demanded a “thorough revision” of the voters’ lists.

He said that the poll panel should answer to the people why “such mistakes” have occurred in the voter list.

When Speaker Om Birla asked Roy if the voter lists were prepared by the government, Leader of Opposition in LS Rahul Gandhi said, “Entire Opposition collectively demands a discussion on the issue here.” He said that in every state, including Maharashtra, the voters’ lists have come under question.

Also raising the issue of voters’ list in Lok Sabha, TMC member Kalyan Banerjee said that the poll panel has “failed” to conduct fair and transparent elections over the past few years, and demanded action against the Election Commission.

He said that on the issue of “duplicate” voter IDs, first flagged by CM Banerjee, the explanation provided by the Election Commission was a “clear breach” of the Rule 20 of the Conduct of election rules itself.

“These things have come (out) over the last few years. Earlier, it was not there,” he said, adding that though the EC says that elections have been conducted in a free and transparent manner, “it is clear there were no transparent elections over the last few years. There was no fair election over the past few years, not at all.”

Leader of Opposition in RS Mallikarjun Kharge reiterated what Gandhi said in LS regarding allowing a discussion, and said, “Given the serious threat these large-scale irregularities pose to the free and fair conduct of elections in our country, it is imperative for the Modi government to allow a comprehensive discussion on the matter in Parliament.”

Underlining that the Parliament must protect the faith of the people in democracy and the Constitution, Kharge said, “The abrupt and unwarranted deletion of voters, the presence of duplicate EPIC numbers, and other such crucial issues affecting the integrity of our electoral process require urgent attention and discussion in Parliament.”