The comments came in response to the Congress leader’s claim of voter manipulation during the 2024 Haryana Assembly Elections. Officials said it is now evident that Gandhi has shown inconsistent positions on the SIR exercise
Rahul Gandhi. File Pic
Rahul Gandhi has highlighted alleged irregularities in past polls but has reportedly opposed the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise aimed at cleaning up electoral rolls, poll body officials said on Wednesday. The comments came in response to the Congress leader’s claim of voter manipulation during the 2024 Haryana Assembly Elections.
Officials said it is now evident that Gandhi has shown inconsistent positions on the SIR exercise. They described his allegation of mass vote manipulation as “unfounded,” noting that no appeals were filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana, nor were any instances of multiple voting flagged at the time, PTI reported.
“Why were no claims or objections raised by Congress’s booth-level agents during the revision to prevent duplicate entries?” an EC official asked, countering Gandhi’s charge that 25 lakh entries were fake and that the Haryana polls were “stolen.”
Booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties are responsible for flagging irregularities in electoral rolls. EC officials emphasised that zero appeals were filed in Haryana, and only 22 election petitions are currently pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, PTI reported. Of the 23 petitions originally filed, one was later withdrawn.
Officials noted that Gandhi has raised concerns specifically about the Rai and Hodal assembly constituencies.
“Since election petitions have been filed in both constituencies, Mr Gandhi may be advised to present all his evidence there,” an official said.
Referring to the responsibilities of polling agents, the commission stated: “What were the polling agents of the Congress doing at the polling stations? They are supposed to object if an elector has already voted or if there is doubt about the elector’s identity.”
Officials also sought clarity on Gandhi’s position regarding SIR, which aims to remove duplicate, deceased, and shifted voters and verify citizenship.
“Is he supporting SIR or opposing it?” an official questioned.
They added that no claims or objections were raised by Congress BLAs during electoral roll revisions in Bihar or Haryana.
In the 2024 Haryana polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 48 seats, while the Congress secured 37. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) won two and Independent candidates bagged three seats in the 90-member assembly.
On the issue of zero house numbers, EC officials clarified that “House Number Zero” is assigned where panchayats or municipalities have not allotted house numbers. Booth-level officers use this to ensure voters are recorded correctly.
(With PTI inputs)
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