A day after the Election Commission of India’s remarks that duplication in Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) does not imply duplicate or fake voters, the Congress on Monday slammed the poll panel calling it “bizarre”.

The grand old party also said that a unique voter id for every Indian voter is the fundamental requirement and premise of a clean voter list.

Advertisement

In a statement, Congress’ Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) committee, which looks into issues related to the conduct of free and fair elections , said, “There are some startling developments on the issue of voter list manipulation that have surfaced. The same voter id number is being used for several voters, both from the same constituency in the same state as well as from other states. This is utterly shocking.”

Stating that multiple voters having the same voter id number is as bizarre as multiple vehicles bearing the same registration number in the country, the EAGLE said it is unheard of in any electoral democracy.

“Back in December 2024, the Congress party pointed out huge irregularities and abnormalities in voter lists for the Maharashtra 2024 Vidhan Sabha election. It is both a logical and statistical absurdity that the Election Commission registered more new net voters (40 lakhs) in five months between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2024 than they did in the entire five-year period between 2019 and 2024 (32 lakhs),” it said.

Claiming that this was substantiated through ground reports in some constituencies where thousands of voters were added to the rolls from just one building or brought in from other states, the EAGLE said “it was further shown that suspiciously most of these new voters enrolled seem to have voted only for the BJP led alliance in Maharashtra, thereby tilting the eventual outcome in their favour.”

The party’s panel said the Election Commission of India’s stoic silence has only lent credence to their complicity in voter list manipulation.

“When confronted with proof of the same voter id number used by multiple voters, the Election Commission initially responded claiming that a voter id number may be the same across states, but it is unique to a particular state. Even that turned out to be a blatant lie as there are cases of the same voter id number used by several voters in the same state and in the same constituency. After this was pointed out, there has been pin drop silence,” the EAGLE said.

Calling for a unique voter id number throughout the country, it said, “The Election Commission cannot feign ignorance or incompetence in this matter. It is a deliberate act of voter list manipulation to aid the ruling party and thwart the idea of free and fair elections.”

Attacking the BJP, the EAGLE said, “It is clear that the ruling BJP wins or attempts to win elections by manipulating voter lists in connivance with the Election Commission. Which is why the process of appointment of the Election Commissioners is so critical to the Narendra Modi government that it subverted a Supreme Court ruling to have a balanced committee to appoint Election Commissioners.”

The Congress’ panel said it will not let this issue fade away and is actively working on seeking remedy through legal, political, legislative and any other means.