EC press conference | CEC to Rahul: Submit affidavit within 7 days or allegations will be considered baseless

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If no declaration under oath given within 7 days, claims will be considered baseless, invalid: CEC on Rahul's allegations

If no declaration under oath given within 7 days, claims will be considered baseless, invalid, says CEC Gyanesh Kumar on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of 'vote chori'.

He also asked Rahul to apologise to the nation if he does not give declaration under oath.

"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," he said.

Flag discrepancies in Bihar SIR before Sept 1: CEC

Urge all recognised political parties to flag discrepancies in voter list in Bihar before September 1, not after that, says CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

He also asked should EC issue notice to 1.5 lakh voters without declaration under oath by the complainant.

CEC on duplicate EPICs

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, "Duplicate EPICs can happen in two ways. One, that a person who is in West Bengal, who is a different person, has one EPIC number and another person who is in Haryana has the same EPIC number. When this question came up around March 2025, we discussed it and we solved it across the country. About three lakh such people were found, whose EPIC number were the same, so their EPIC numbers were changed.

He continued, "The second type of duplication comes when the name of the same person is in the voter list at more than one place and his EPIC number is different. That is, one person, many EPICs... Before 2003, if you wanted to get your name deleted from the old place, then there was no website of the Election Commission, which had all the data at one place... So, since technical facilities were not available before 2003, many such people who migrated to different places, their names were added to many places. Then a question arose that today there is a website, there is a computer, you can select and delete it. The Election Commission stands like a rock with the voters... So, if this is done in a hurry, then any voter's name can be deleted wrongly. Someone else's name will be deleted in your place..."

CEC defends Bihar SIR

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar says, "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..."

CEC: SIR exercise has not been done in last 20 years

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar says, "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."

CEC on difference between machine-readable, searchable voter lists

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar says, "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."

"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," he said.

EC's mantra is to include all eligible voters and remove all ineligible voters from electoral rolls: CEC

CEC Gyanesh Kumar also said that if anyone wishes to file a complaint without being a voter of that constituency, it can be done only as witness under oath. "If you are not an voter of that constituency, then you have only one option in the law and that is The Registration Of Electors Rules, rule number 20, sub-clause (3), sub-clause (b) which says that if you are not an voter of that constituency, then you can lodge your complaint as a witness and you will have to give an oath to the electoral registration officer and that oath will have to be administered in front of the person against whom you have complained."

No Bangladeshis, Nepalis in vote list: CEC

CEC Gyanesh Kumar said there are no Nepalis and Bangladeshis who are on the voter list and can vote in Indian elections. He reiterated that, as per the Constitution, only Indian citizens can contest and vote.

"I want to make it clear that according to the Constitution of India, only Indian citizens can contest the election of MP and MLA. People from other countries do not have the right to contest elections. 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," CEC said.

CEC cites SC ruling on machine-readable voter list

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar says, "As far as the machine-readable voter list is concerned, the Supreme Court has already said in 2019 that this could be a violation of voter privacy."

He added that the EC is following the Supreme Court ruling on this.