'EPIC' row: Congress says BJP wins polls by manipulating voters’ list with EC help

New Delhi: Wading into the ‘EPIC’ controversy involving issuance of multiple voter cards with identical numbers, Congress on Monday claimed that it is now “clear” that the ruling BJP “wins or attempts to win” polls by manipulating electoral rolls “in connivance” with the Election Commission.

Describing it as a “grave danger to the very idea of India as an electoral democracy”, it said the party would “not let this issue fade away” and is “actively working on seeking remedy” through legal, political, legislative and other means.

The party's ‘Empowered Action Group and Experts’ (EAGLE) claimed that the EC is “complicit” in voters’ list manipulation, as “startling developments” have surfaced where same Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) numbers are being used for multiple voters, both from the same constituency in the same state as well as from other states.

On Sunday, the EC admitted that some EPICs in states have identical numbers due to a “decentralised and manual mechanism” being followed prior to shifting of the electoral roll database to the ERONET (Electoral Roll Management). It also said that this would not lead to fake votes.

“This is utterly shocking. A unique voter ID for every Indian voter is the fundamental requirement and premise of a clean voter list. Multiple voters having the same voter ID number is as bizarre as multiple vehicles bearing the same registration number in the country. It is unheard of in any electoral democracy,” it said.

When confronted with proof of the same EPIC number used by multiple voters, it said, the EC initially claimed that a voter ID number may be the same in different states, but it is unique to a particular state.

“Even that turned out to be a blatant lie as there are cases of the same voter ID number used by several voters in the same state and in the same constituency. After this was pointed out, there has been pin drop silence,” the statement said.

It said it was “elementary knowledge” that a person who can legally migrate to any state of the country must have a unique voter ID number throughout the country and EC “cannot feign ignorance or incompetence” in this matter.

Calling it a “deliberate act of voter list manipulation to aid the ruling party and thwart the idea of free and fair elections”, it said, “the cover is now blown. It is clear that the ruling BJP wins or attempts to win elections by manipulating voter lists in connivance with the Election Commission.”

That is why the process of appointment of the Election Commissioners is “so critical” to the Modi government that it “subverted a Supreme Court ruling to have a balanced committee to appoint Election Commissioners”, it said.

The statement also referred to Congress’ allegations in December last year of “huge irregularities and abnormalities” in the voters’ list for Maharashtra Assembly elections, including the increase of around 40 lakh voters between Lok Sabha elections in May and state elections five months later.

“This was substantiated through ground reports in some constituencies where thousands of voters were added to the rolls from just one building or brought in from other states. It was further shown that suspiciously most of these new voters enrolled seem to have voted only for the BJP led alliance in Maharashtra, thereby tilting the eventual outcome in their favour,” it said.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Raul Gandhi also raised the issue in Parliament while he and alliance leaders in Maharashtra held a joint press conference but the Election Commission’s “stoic silence” on their demand for providing electoral rolls used for both elections has “only lent credence to their complicity” in voter list manipulation.

In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a similar charge on February 27.