EC sets up team to probe Cong claims

The Election Commission on Sunday ordered an inquiry into the suspected "errors" in electoral rolls in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh after the Congress accused the BJP of pressurising the state administration to include 60 lakh fake voters in their electoral rolls.

Four teams, with two officials each, were set up by the EC to look into the allegations in four Assembly constituencies — Narela, Bhojpur, Hoshangabad and Seoni-Malwa — and they will reach the constituencies on Monday.

The teams have been given the deadline of June 7 to submit their final report, besides daily reports.

The EC action came after a delegation of Congress leaders, including Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath and senior leaders Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia, submitted a memorandum seeking its intervention.

The teams have been asked to enquire into each of the specific issues raised in the complaint by the Congress, as well as the status of field verification related to demographically similar entries in the electoral roll.

The EC has also asked the officers in the team to ascertain how errors, if any, crept into the electoral roll.

"If yes (there are errors), take necessary steps to delete it following due processes and to find out how did it happen. If deliberate mistake is detected, the responsibility shall be fixed so as to initiate appropriate action," the Terms of Reference for the probe teams said.

According to the Congress, its leaders examined the voter lists of 101 Assembly constituencies and found 27 lakh fake voters. This would work out to 60 lakh for all the Assembly constituencies, the party claimed.