New Delhi, 06 October (H.S.): Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has criticised opposition parties over their demands for electoral reforms and a return to paper ballots. Questioning Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the opposition parties’ march, Shivraj Singh Chouhan alleged that the opposition was not concerned about democracy but was instead expressing frustration over its electoral defeat and attempting to undermine the popular mandate.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that after a three-kilometre march involving 19 political parties, the opposition was demanding that the country return to the era of ballot papers. Referring to the three demands raised by Mallikarjun Kharge, he said they included the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and a return to elections conducted through ballot papers.

Defending reforms in the electoral process, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the election system had undergone continuous changes to prevent electoral malpractice. He claimed that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) had played a role in curbing incidents such as booth capturing, while the introduction of photo voter identity cards and verification of electoral rolls had helped identify and eliminate bogus voters.

He also described the SIR exercise as part of the same process of electoral reform. According to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, it is necessary to remove from electoral rolls the names of deceased voters, duplicate entries and voters who have permanently shifted to another location. He questioned how free and fair elections could be ensured if the process of cleaning and updating electoral rolls itself was opposed.

Questioning the demand for a return to paper ballots, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan referred to incidents of booth capturing and bogus voting during elections in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the 1980s and 1990s. He alleged that the opposition was attempting to reverse the electoral reforms introduced over the years.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar