EC says parties did not flag roll errors during revision despite “utmost transparency.”
First press meet under CEC Gyanesh Kumar to address SIR, Rahul Gandhi’s allegations.
Amid Opposition claims of discrepancies in voter lists across several states, and with the Congress set to launch a campaign on the issue in Bihar on Sunday, the Election Commission issued a statement stressing that the time to raise such objections was during the revision exercise.
“Recently, some political parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in electoral rolls, including the electoral rolls prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the electoral rolls would have been during the claims and objections period of that phase, which is precisely the objective behind sharing the electoral rolls with all political parties and the candidates. Had these issues been raised at the right time, through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM/EROs to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those elections,” the EC .
The Commission also announced that it will hold a press conference on Sunday — its first since Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge as Chief Election Commissioner in February.
EC officials said the interaction will take up questions on the SIR and address allegations made by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
