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Among the claims made by Rahul Gandhi are of duplicate EPIC. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said it could happen in two ways
News18
Amid allegations of vote theft levelled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, in a press conference on Sunday, said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is aimed at removing all shortcomings in voters lists and it is a matter of grave concern that some parties are spreading misinformation about it.
Among the claims made by Gandhi are of duplicate Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC). Kumar said it could happen in two ways.
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“The first is when one person is in West Bengal. He has an EPIC number which is the same as that of another person in Haryana. There were three lakh people with the same EPIC number. We changed that.”
#WATCH | Delhi: 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… pic.twitter.com/Qj32N56pMJ— ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2025
“The second way is when a person has his name in multiple electoral rolls, but with multiple EPIC numbers. When we probed, we found that before 2003, there was no EC website, there were state-based websites. You could have written to the authorities, but whether it would ensure that your name in your previous city is removed could not be guaranteed. After 2003, in the last 20 years, we did not bring the technology because we did not want it to cut votes. This is where SIR comes into play,” said Kumar.
“Should we do this correction exercise after polls? Is the EC saying this? No, leaders of the people are saying this,” he said.
“Doors of the Election Commission are open to everyone, and booth-level officers and agents are working together in a transparent manner,” he said, adding, “It is an insult to the Indian Constitution if election petitions are not filed within 45 days but allegations of vote chori are raised,” he said.
ग़रीब की ताक़त है उसका वोट – यही उसका हक़, उसकी आवाज़, उसकी पहचान है।आज वही ताक़त छीनी जा रही है – SIR के ज़रिए वोट चोरी की साज़िश चल रही है।
हम हर कीमत पर वोट चोरी रोकेंगे!#VoterAdhikarYatra pic.twitter.com/jsI1WnNqSz
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 17, 2025
Meanwhile, the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties launched ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in poll-bound Bihar against alleged “vote-chori”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the whole country now knows that the Election Commission is “stealing” elections in collusion with the BJP and asserted that the INDIA bloc will not let them succeed in their “conspiracy” to steal Bihar Assembly polls by voter additions and deletions through the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
He was addressing a gathering in Sasaram at the launch event of his 1,300 km ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ covering over 20 districts in Bihar.
With PTI Inputs
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The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d… Read More
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