Rejecting the Election Commission’s clarification on the issue of duplicate voter ID cards, the Trinamool Congress said in a press conference on Monday (March 3, 2025) that while the Election Commission has admitted the mistake, it has “not accepted” it. The party also promised to present more evidence on the issue within 24 hours.Joining the controversy, the Congress issued a statement on Monday evening accusing the commission of being complicit in the manipulation of the voter list. Sources said the Bharatiya Janata Party will raise this issue unitedly in the second phase of the budget session starting from March 10.Mr. O’Brien said, “We want only residents of a state to vote in that state. Only Bengal voters will vote in Bengal… Voters will not be allowed to vote as their votes will be cast by people with the same EPIC number.” He alleged that this was an attempt to allow voters from other states to vote in West Bengal, where elections are due next year. “This is unacceptable,” he said at a press conference in New Delhi.Mr. O’Brien said the Election Commission’s statement on Sunday was an admission of error, but it had not yet admitted it. “Limited praise from the Election Commission. I say limited because the Election Commission is admitting a mistake but not admitting it,” he said. In the next 24 hours, we humbly request the Election Commission also admit the mistake. If that does not happen, we will share a document at 9 am on Tuesday.”The Congress’ newly formed Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) on electoral issues, in a statement, without naming the Trinamool, said there had been some “shocking developments” on the issue of manipulation of voters’ lists. “A unique identity card for every Indian voter is the basic requirement and basis for a clean electoral roll. Having multiple voters with the same voter ID number is as bizarre as having multiple vehicles with the same registration number in the country. This is unheard of in any electoral democracy,” the statement said.The Congress also reminded of its earlier allegation of manipulation of voter lists in Maharashtra. “It is clear that the ruling BJP wins or tries to win elections by manipulating voter lists in connivance with the Election Commission,” the statement said.West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the first to raise this issue on Thursday. She alleged that the BJP is adding fake voters from other states to the voter list of Bengal. She said, “Names of outsiders have been added to the voter list so that the people of Bengal cannot cast their vote.Outsiders from Bihar, Haryana, and other states will be brought to Bengal by trains to win the Bengal elections.” Responding to his allegation, the Election Commission had said it would fix the issue and also update its technology-driven platform.Talking on this topic, political analyst Anil Verma said, “The election official claimed that voter ID numbers of some voters may be the same”, but other details, including demographic details, assembly constituency, and polling station, are different.”
Reporting to True to Life News