EC presser on ‘vote chori’ claims, Bihar SIR: Top things CEC Gyanesh Kumar said

The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday (August 17) held a press conference to address the allegations of ‘vote chori’ (vote theft), Bihar’s special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, and other issues.

Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), dismissed allegations of vote theft levelled at the EC by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

He asked Rahul, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, to submit an affidavit within seven days over his allegations, or else they would be considered baseless and invalid.

Here are the top things the CEC said at the press conference in New Delhi

“More than one crore employees are engaged in the election exercise. Can 'vote chori' happen in such a transparent process?” CEC Kumar questioned.

Also read: Voter Adhikar Yatra: Won't let 'conspiracy' to 'steal' Bihar polls succeed, says Rahul

CEC Kumar said that the EC is not afraid of false allegations. “Some voters alleged double voting. When asked for proof, no answer was given. Neither the Election Commission nor any voter is afraid of such false allegations. When politics is being done by targeting the voters of India by keeping a gun on the shoulder of the Election Commission, today the Election Commission wants to make it clear to everyone that the Election Commission fearlessly stood like a rock with all the voters of all sections and all religions including the poor, rich, elderly, women, youth without any discrimination, is standing and will continue to stand.”

On Rahul’s allegations of vote theft, CEC Kumar said, “An affidavit will have to be given or an apology will have to be made to the country. There is no third option. If the affidavit is not received within 7 days, it means that all these allegations are baseless.”

Also read: EC responds to Rahul's allegations of 'vote chori'

He said that the EC does not discriminate between political parties, be it the government or the Opposition. “You all know that, as per the law, every political party is born through registration with the Election Commission. Then how can the Election Commission discriminate among the same political parties? For the Election Commission, all are equal. No matter who belongs to any political party, the Election Commission will not step back from its constitutional duty.”

CEC on Bihar SIR, “The SIR exercise has not been done in the last 20 years. The SIR exercise has been carried out more than 10 times in the country. The main purpose of SIR is to purify the voter list. The SIR exercise is being carried out after receiving many complaints from political parties.”

“Some people are misleading that why the SIR exercise is being carried out in such a hurry? Should the voter list be rectified before or after the elections? The Election Commission is not saying this; the Representation of the People Act says that you have to rectify the voter list before every election. This is the legal responsibility of the Election Commission. Then the question arose whether the Election Committee would be able to reach more than seven crore voters of Bihar? The truth is that the work started on 24th June. The entire process was completed by about the 20th of July,” he said.

On the difference between machine-readable and searchable vote lists, the CEC said, “We have to understand the difference between a machine-readable voter list and a searchable voter list. You can search the voter list available on the Election Commission website by entering the EPIC number. You can also download it. This is not called machine-readable. Regarding machine-readable, in 2019, the Supreme Court also studied this subject in depth and found that giving a machine-readable electoral roll can violate the privacy of the voter... The machine-readable voter list is prohibited. This decision of the Election Commission is after the judgment of the Supreme Court and is from 2019.”

When asked whether Nepalis and Bangladeshis are voting in Indian elections, the CEC clarified, “I want to make it clear that according to the Constitution of India, only Indian citizens can vote for the election of MP and MLA. People from other countries do not have the right. If such people have filled out the enumeration form, then during the SIR process, they will have to prove their nationality by submitting some documents. Their names will be removed after the investigation.”

On when is SIR exercise in West Bengal, the CEC said, “The three Election Commissioners will decide when the exercise of SIR will be carried out in West Bengal or other states.”

“Even after the returning officer declares the results, there is a provision in the law that, within a period of 45 days, political parties can go to the Supreme Court and file an election petition to challenge the election. After this 45-day period, making such baseless allegations, be it in Kerala, Karnataka, or Bihar. When that 45-day period after the elections is over and during that period, no candidate or political party finds any irregularity, then today, after so many days, the voters and people of the country understand the intention behind making such baseless allegations,” said Kumar on challenging poll results.