Jairam Ramesh targets EC over ‘bizarre’ voter entries, demands Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation

New Delhi, Oct 24 : Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls used for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, accusing the poll body of attempting to shift responsibility to software systems.

Demanding the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Ramesh called for the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, an impartial investigation into the alleged discrepancies and the public release of complete machine-readable voter data.

In a post on social media platform X, Ramesh cited several allegedly bizarre entries in the electoral rolls. In one instance, a voter's name was reportedly recorded as "Ram ne Yadav ko maara" (Ram beat Yadav), while the father's name appeared as "Moorkh Chandra Yadav". In other cases, a voter's father's name was reportedly listed as "B.Com", while another entry read "Ram ne Sharma ka naam".

Describing these discrepancies as serious, Ramesh questioned the processes followed in preparing, verifying and maintaining electoral rolls. He asked how the Election Commission could assure the public that similar irregularities had not occurred in other elections if such entries had surfaced in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council polls.

He also questioned whether the accuracy of voter lists and the integrity of elections had effectively been left to software and the ECINET digital platform. He maintained that the Election Commission could not escape accountability by attributing errors to technological systems.

The Congress leader said the latest controversy had intensified concerns over the functioning of the Election Commission and its commitment to constitutional principles. He stressed that the poll body was responsible for ensuring accurate and transparent electoral rolls and protecting the voting rights of every eligible citizen.

Ramesh also referred to alleged irregularities in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh, claiming that the details of 10,470 voters had been changed through Form 8 applications without supporting documentary records. He alleged that a substantial proportion of those affected belonged to a particular community and expressed concern that incorrect voter records could prevent eligible citizens from exercising their franchise.

He said the allegations required an independent investigation to establish whether the prescribed procedures and safeguards had been followed.

Referring to other complaints, Ramesh alleged that several voters' names had disappeared from electoral rolls published after the SIR exercise and that searches using Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers had returned incorrect details.

He further alleged that the Election Commission had not provided the Congress and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with the complete machine-readable electoral data they had sought. According to him, access to the underlying records was essential to verify discrepancies, assess their extent and fix responsibility.

With the next Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections approaching, Ramesh said the alleged irregularities had raised serious questions about electoral transparency and voters' rights. He called for an impartial inquiry into whether proper notices had been issued and hearings conducted before names were added, deleted or modified in electoral rolls.

He argued that the SIR exercise, which was intended to improve the accuracy of voter lists, had instead raised doubts about their credibility.

Referring to elections to the Lok Sabha and in states such as Haryana, Maharashtra and West Bengal, Ramesh alleged that concerns over electoral manipulation had contributed to a wider public perception that elections had been stolen. He accused the BJP of benefiting from alleged collusion with the Election Commission, a charge that has not been independently established.

He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for allegedly responding to Rahul Gandhi's questions about "vote chori" through personal attacks instead of addressing concerns over electoral irregularities.

Listing the Congress's demands, Ramesh sought Gyanesh Kumar's immediate resignation, suspension of the SIR exercise, an impartial investigation into the alleged discrepancies and publication of complete machine-readable electoral data.

He said safeguarding the voting rights of every eligible citizen must remain the foremost priority.

The controversy has further intensified the political confrontation between the Congress and the BJP over the credibility of electoral rolls, transparency in revision procedures and the use of digital platforms in election administration. The reported discrepancies, if confirmed, could prompt closer scrutiny of the processes involved in generating, verifying and approving voter records.