: Friday, 19 September 2025 10:59 PM
New Delhi. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is constantly raising questions about the Election Commission and voter list. They have been repeatedly alleging that the voter list is being rigged in disturbances and voting process and all this is happening in the interest of the ruling party BJP. Former Chief Election Commissioner N.K. Gopalaswamy has expressed his opinion in detail and made it clear that it is not appropriate to directly add electoral process and voter list disturbances.
Gopalaswamy says that this issue should be seen in two parts. The first is a disturbance in the voter list and the second is rigging or theft in the voting process. These two are not directly related. Technical errors or discolidation of names while preparing voter list is a normal process, while the election operation is a completely different stage.
He also clarified that political parties are made available at a per time of voter list. At that time, the parties have a chance to register their objections and get the attention of the Election Commission towards disturbances. If reform is not demanded at that time, it is not appropriate to question the list after the election starts, because the list is freeze as soon as the election is announced.
Gopalaswamy said that if fake voting like rigging, counting of votes or other complaints during the election, then they can be raised at that level. But once the election process starts, it is not appropriate to question the mistakes of the voter list. According to him, both political parties and the Election Commission have a responsibility to play their role within the stipulated time limit.
Gopalaswamy gave an example on the question of intervention in the Election Commission during the Congress government, saying that in 2008, there was a thorough revision before the Karnataka assembly elections. At the time when the Election Commission reviewed the voter list, huge disturbances were revealed. The names of about 52 lakh deceased and transferred voters were removed, 20 lakh new names were added and 10 lakh names improved. After this, objections were taken again and a total of 54 lakh names were removed and 27 lakh new names were added. That is, there was a change of about 5 percent in the total voter number.
Gopalaswamy said that if such a big change is possible in Karnataka, then the deletion of 65 lakh names recently in Bihar is not uncommon. The total voter number of Bihar is about 10 crore, in such a situation, given the migration and the dynamic form of population, this change is natural. He said that in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, a large number of people go out for employment, due to which the number of names removing and adding in the list can be rapid change.
On alleging Rahul Gandhi that the Election Commission is working in favor of the BJP, Gopalaswamy said that this is a completely political rhetoric. He clarified that the Election Commission has asked all political parties to appoint their booth level officers who should work closely with the Election Commission booth level officials. The purpose of this is that transparency remains and if an officer of the commission makes a mess, then the booth level officer of political parties should immediately monitor it.
Regarding the constant change in the voter list, Gopalaswamy said that this problem will always be in a rapidly changing country, as urbanization, migration and dynamics of population are changes every year. Therefore, it is meaningless to create a political dispute about this. He said that accusing without evidence can harm the credibility of democracy and electoral process.
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Web Title-From EVMS to Voter Lists… Former Chief Election Commissioner Gopalaswamis Strong Counterattack to Rahul Gandhiis Allegations