New Delhi, Sept 27 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday hit out at the opposition over allegations of “vote theft”, saying attempts were being made to create circumstances aimed at misleading people in the country.
Addressing a press conference at her Jan Seva Sadan, Gupta questioned the basis for making serious allegations against the Election Commission “on the basis of a news report” and said the poll panel had itself “clarified the matter and explained its process”.
The chief minister’s remarks follow the demand by Congress and several other parties and organisations for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar after a recent investigation by The Indian Express claimed that two election commissioners formally objected at least 14 times over a 10-month period to the poll panel’s handling of the SIR process.
Gupta asked the opposition parties whether transparency and accountability in the electoral process had been seen in states where opposition parties had been in power.
“There had been no change in Form 6. Under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a separate declaration has been provided along with Form 6, according to the Election Commission,” the chief minister said.
The Indian Express investigation has claimed that the two election commissioners flagged the changes made to Form 6, calling them “illegal” and “unauthorised”, as the revised form sought information about whether the applicant’s or their parents’ names were on the electoral roll during the last SIR held in the early 2000s.
On allegations of large-scale deletion of names from electoral rolls, Gupta claimed names were removed when people had shifted to another place or had died.
“People say so many votes have been cut. Those who have shifted, those who are no longer alive — would you conduct voting for such people? This is how such names are removed,” she claimed.
The chief minister said updating electoral rolls should not be portrayed as “vote theft”.
The poll panel was working with transparency and had placed its response to the questions raised before the public, she claimed.
“The Election Commission is doing excellent work,” she added. PTI SHB
PRK
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