MPs walk out of Rajya Sabha for not allowing to raise issue
New Delhi: Opposition parties led by the Congress on Monday demanded a detailed discussion in Parliament on the doubts that have arisen on the integrity of the electoral process after alleged discrepancies in voter lists, with Rahul Gandhi raising the issue in the Lok Sabha.
Speaking during Zero Hour in the lower House, Gandhi said the voter lists “are being questioned across the country” and the entire Opposition has been demanding a discussion on the matter.
“Questions have been raised by the Opposition in one voice in every state, including Maharashtra,” he said.
The Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party and the RJD also said it is an extremely serious matter and Parliament needs to take it up.
Congress president and the leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge sought to raise the issue during Zero Hour but was not allowed after which the Opposition walked out in protest.
“The abrupt and unwarranted deletion of voters, the presence of duplicate EPIC numbers, and other such crucial issues affecting the integrity of our electoral process require urgent attention and discussion in Parliament,” Kharge said in a post on X.
“Given the serious threat these large-scale irregularities pose to the free and fair conduct of elections in our country, it is imperative for the Modi government to allow a comprehensive discussion on the matter in Parliament,” he also said.
The Opposition MPs raised slogans after Rajya Sabha deputy chairman of the House, Harivansh, said a dozen notices under Rule 267, which calls for setting aside the business of the day to take up discussions on urgent matters, have been rejected.
Citing the rejection, Harivansh did not allow Kharge to make his submission.
Highlighting the issue of alleged “faulty” voter lists in the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee demanded action against the Election Commission and said the poll body had “failed” to conduct fair and transparent elections over the past few years.
Speaking during Zero Hour, he said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had first flagged the issue of numerous instances of “duplicate” voter cards and the explanation given by the Election Commission was a clear breach of the Conduct of Election Rules itself.
The “faulty” voter lists were a matter of serious concern and amounted to a breach of Rule 20 of the Conduct of Elections Rule, the TMC member said.
“The Election Commission, all the time, says they have conducted transparent and fair elections. It is clear that there have been no transparent elections for the last few years. There was no fair election for the last few years, not at all,” he said.
“The Election Commission has not done a proper act and appropriate proceedings should be brought against the Election Commission for this reason,” the Trinamool Congress leader said.
Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy demanded a thorough revision of the voter lists, particularly ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam scheduled next year.
“There are some serious flaws. This has been pointed out with respect to Maharashtra, which had inflated voter lists. This was pointed out in Haryana. They are now trying to jump into West Bengal and Assam where elections are due next year,” Roy claimed.
“Let the total voter lists be thoroughly revised. The Election Commission should answer to the country why some mistakes occurred in the lists,” the Trinamool leader said
The Trinamool Congress has been raising the issue of duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers, following which the Election Commission declared that it would take corrective measures within the next three months.
The Election Commission had rejected the Trinamool Congress claim that the voter lists were manipulated to allow voters from other states to exercise their franchise in West Bengal.
The poll body also made it clear that while the EPIC numbers of some voters “may be identical”, other details such as demographic information, Assembly constituency and polling booth are different.
