Jairam Ramesh demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal and an Election Commission overhaul.
Congress claimed nationwide protests forced the decision to provide searchable voter rolls.
Ramesh also sought immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar “simply has to go”, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday, demanding an overhaul of the Election Commission and its IT system. He also called for the immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The Congress communications general secretary’s remarks followed the Commission’s decision to provide political parties with “readable” voter lists. Ramesh claimed the move was a result of nationwide protests over alleged “vote chori”.
Accusing Kumar of acting on instructions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Ramesh alleged that the CEC had destroyed public trust in the poll body.
“He simply has to go. But that alone will not be enough. The ECI itself along with its IT system has to be thoroughly revamped,” he said on X.
Ramesh claimed that the SIR had put the voting rights of more than 13 crore Indians at risk and demanded that the exercise be suspended forthwith.
He said Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Congress had consistently sought searchable electoral rolls for political parties over the past two years.
“The demand was repeatedly refused by the ECI which stopped providing searchable voter rolls in 2018 when the Congress found lakhs of bogus voters in Madhya Pradesh. The demand was denied for 8 years to enable Vote Chori,” he alleged.
Ramesh cited the Commission’s October 15 order on providing searchable rolls for the Special Summary Revision (SSR), which he said had resumed after a two-year gap in 17 states and Union territories.
“This is because the whole nation is on the streets against the Vote Chors,” he claimed.
“Every time 'vote chori' is caught, the Modi government adopts a new tactic: stopping readable voter rolls, fake voter additions, SIR. But not this time,” Ramesh said.
The Election Commission has ordered the annual SSR in 17 states and Union territories, including those where Assembly elections are due early next year. The final rolls will be published on January 4.
A senior Commission functionary said the SSR was an annual exercise mandated under election law and was particularly undertaken in poll-bound states.
The SIR has been completed in these states and Union territories. Assam underwent a special revision instead of the SIR for legal reasons.
Under the Commission’s directions, political parties will receive “readable” electoral rolls at the draft and final stages in both hard and soft copies. Candidates in poll-bound states will also receive draft and final rolls.
Electoral Registration Officers will make the rolls available for purchase by other persons before the elections.
