Crossed all limits: K C Venugopal slams poll body over electoral irregularities

India Today

a day ago

In a strongly worded statement posted on social media, senior Congress leader K C Venugopal launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing it of turning a blind eye to 'grave allegations of vote theft and mass rigging' during recent electoral processes.Calling the ECI's conduct a "shameless" dereliction of duty, Venugopal alleged that the constitutional body had 'crossed all limits' by refusing to take responsibility in the face of serious charges. 'Constitutional authorities are expected to be the epitome of probity,' he wrote, criticising the ECI for hiding behind 'vaguely drafted press notes' instead of addressing the concerns head-on.advertisementThe Congress General Secretary questioned the ECI's commitment to transparency, pointing to several recent decisions that he said contradict the Commission's stated principles. These include:
1. Denying parties access to machine-readable electoral rolls and removing already uploaded versions of the draft Special Summary Revision (SIR) rolls.2. Deleting CCTV footage within 45 days of polling, which opposition parties argue undermines accountability3. Refusing to disclose the rationale behind the deletion of 65 lakh voter names in Bihar's SIR process, even while submitting to the Supreme Court that it was not obligated to provide such reasons.4. Declining to meet opposition Members of Parliament, who had marched to the ECI seeking explanations and accountability.'These actions raise serious doubts about the ECI's intention to maintain electoral integrity,' Venugopal charged. 'The tone and tenor of their recent press note only intensifies suspicion that the ECI, under BJP influence, is unwilling to confront the issue of mass-scale vote rigging.'The ECI has crossed all limits of shamelessness by shrugging all its responsibilities in the face of grave allegations of vote theft and mass rigging.Constitutional authorities are expected to be the epitome of probity - not hide behind vaguely drafted press notes to hide pic.twitter.com/XKL9wsxFo6— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 16, 2025In his statement, Venugopal emphasised that the burden of detecting fraud and irregularities should not fall on political parties and their booth-level agents (BLAs), but rather on the ECI itself.'If the ECI truly welcomes scrutiny, then the Chief Election Commissioner and his colleagues must answer why they are withholding machine-readable rolls and deleting crucial CCTV footage,' he added.The remarks follow Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's recent expose of discrepancies in voter lists based on ECI's data. Gandhi's data-backed presentation stirred tensions between the opposition and the ECI, with multiple parties alleging electoral malpractices in recent state and national elections.- EndsMust Watch