The Tuesday Interview | Duplicate EPIC cards undermine the foundation of free, fair elections: Saket Gokhale

The Trinamool Congress has raised concerns about the electoral process, led by the party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She has raised the issue of multiple voter cards sharing the same number. The party met the Election Commission earlier this month and raised concerns over various election-related issues. Senior Trinamool MP Saket Gokhale, who was part of the party delegation to the EC, spoke to DH’s Shemin Joy. Excerpts:

How serious is the issue of duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) numbers raised by your party?

The issue of duplicate EPIC cards undermines the foundation of free and fair elections. When the integrity of the voting process itself is under a cloud, it affects the basis of our democracy.

The EC says identical numbers on multiple cards do not mean fake voters...

They are not identical numbers. EPICs with the same numbers have been allotted to multiple people across various states. When two EPICs have the same number, which one of them is a genuine voter? What stops a voter from one state casting a vote in another state when their EPIC number is the same? When more than one voter has the same voter ID, how do we distinguish between a genuine and a fake voter? Since the EPIC number is linked to voter details, a duplicate EPIC number will lead to denial of voting. This clearly reeks of a conspiracy to conduct voter suppression in favour of the BJP, where voters in non-BJP areas are being targeted by issuing their EPIC numbers to people in other states.

Why are you not convinced by the statements of the EC?

The Election Commission was first in denial. Now they have accepted and admitted that duplicate EPICs exist. However, they haven’t yet disclosed how many duplicate EPICs exist in India. Now when the Election Commission claims that it will resolve the issue in 90 days, how will it do this when it doesn’t even know the extent of the problem? If the Election Commission says this has happened since 2000, why was nothing done for 25 years until Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pointed it out? What is the EC hiding, and who are they trying to protect? This is a scam, and answers must be given. The statements by the EC sound like window dressing rather than an attempt to ensure accountability.

Now, you have raised concerns about cloned Aadhaar cards. What is your stand on linking Aadhaar to EPIC?

Cloned Aadhaar cards are allegedly being used to register fake voters. We raised this issue with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) last year during the Lok Sabha election, but there was no action. Now it is reported that the Chief Election Commissioner himself is meeting the CEO of UIDAI on this issue. Clearly, there is something fishy as this meeting has been organised only after the TMC delegation raised this issue. The EC will have to say how it will ensure that the cloning of Aadhaar numbers does not affect the EPIC and electoral registration of voters.

Are you raising these issues because West Bengal Assembly election is due next year?

Considering the large-scale irregularities in the Maharashtra and Delhi Assembly elections, we have realised that these issues must be raised if we are to ensure free and fair elections in West Bengal in 2026. But this issue is not limited only to Bengal. The questions of fake voters, addition of ghost voters, existence of duplicate voters, etc., exist all over India. This is about the integrity of the electoral process as a whole, no matter which state it happens in.

Is there a trust deficit with the EC?

The EC has not yet been able to comprehensively address the issues raised by opposition parties. After the Maharashtra and Delhi elections, credible evidence of voter anomalies was provided to the Election Commission, but no action was taken. Even after accepting and admitting the issue of duplicate EPICs raised by AITC, the EC still hasn’t come clean on how many such duplicate cards exist. If the Election Commission has to improve the trust quotient, it must be seen to be proactive rather than reactive. It is important that the EC must not only be fair but also seen as being independent and unbiased.

Has the government agreed to a debate in parliament on the EPIC issue, as demanded by the opposition?

The entire Opposition is concerned about duplicate voter IDs and electoral manipulation. All parties except the BJP have raised concerns. Why is the BJP, which also contests elections, silent? The only logical reason is that the BJP is doing this manipulation through the EC.