TMC, BJP go to EC over voter ID row, BJD flags vote ‘variance’

The BJP leaders also alleged manipulation in electoral rolls in West Bengal, claiming that 13 lakh illegal voters, including Bangladeshi nationals, had been added to the voter list. About 8,415 people with similar EPIC numbers are registered in Bengal as voters, the BJP delegation, including its Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar and the party’s co-observer for the state Amit Malviya, claimed in the petition to the EC.

In a post on X later, the EC wrote: “The Commission welcomed the delegation of BJP today and informed them that only the citizens of India who are above 18 years of age can be registered as electors in the polling booths where they are ordinary residents.” “Updation of electoral roll is a participative process with all political parties, including established mechanisms of appeal under section 24 of the RPA (Representation of the People Act) 1950,” it said.

A Biju Janata Dal delegation also met the poll panel on Tuesday and alleged “unusual variances” in the votes cast in the 2024 Parliament and Assembly elections in the state. The party submitted a second memorandum on the issue to the poll panel.

The BJD requested the EC to institute a periodic process audit of the entire electoral process by the CAG or independent auditors; tally all VVPAT slips with the EVM count in every booth, and mandate that the District Election Officers provide within a month copies of Form 17 C and VVPATs to any citizen on the payment of prescribed fees.

TMC MP Sagarika Ghosh, who addressed the media after the meeting with the EC, said that duplicate Aadhaar numbers had also been allotted to multiple people, which impacted their EPIC numbers since the EC had begun to seed EPIC numbers with Aadhaar.

In a four-page memorandum submitted to the poll panel, the TMC said EPIC numbers consist of an alphanumeric sequence of three letters known as the “Functional Unique Serial Number (FUSN)”, which is different for every Assembly constituency in India, and seven digits, are supposed to be unique.

“How were EPICs with the same number issued to voters in multiple Assembly constituencies across various states in the country?” the TMC said, adding, “Why has EC not clearly stated on its Form 6B that seeding Aadhaar with EPIC is an entirely voluntary process and that it is not compulsory?” It alleged instances of arbitrary deletions and additions of names to electoral rolls in many states, claiming that in Bengal “several fake voters had been added to the electoral rolls through the online portal”.

The party demanded that the EC issue a separate list of voter deletions, new additions and modifications with every new revised electoral roll.

The EC said on X: “…The Commission mentioned that all concerns including duplicate EPIC numbers, duplicate, shifted and dead voters and illegal migrants will be resolved by each Booth Level Officer and concerned Electoral Registration Officer with active participation of Booth level Agents appointed by all political parties.”

– with PTI inputs