New Delhi, 06 October (H.S.): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday accused the Congress of creating confusion over electoral rolls, the Election Commission and other constitutional institutions.

BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi said Congress leaders had themselves spoken in the past about the need to identify duplicate, deceased and transferred voters, but were now questioning the process of verifying electoral rolls.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP central office, Dr Trivedi asked Rahul Gandhi and the Congress why, if they had earlier raised concerns about duplicate voters, they were now allegedly attempting to protect such voters as soon as the electoral rolls were being scrutinised.

He said several senior Congress leaders, including Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and K.C. Venugopal, had spoken about duplication in electoral rolls on different occasions.

The BJP spokesperson asked the Congress whether it was right in 2016, 2018 and 2020-21, or whether it was right today. He said the Congress should clarify whether it was speaking the truth then or now. Dr Trivedi claimed that among the 13 crore voters cited by the Congress were 2.8 crore deceased voters, around one crore duplicate voters and crores of transferred or absent voters.

He said transferred voters could be given the option of deciding at which location they wanted to retain their names on the electoral rolls, but the Congress should explain the rationale for retaining deceased and duplicate voters in the electoral system.

Citing examples of suspected beneficiaries identified in ration cards and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the BJP national spokesperson said verification had previously been carried out to identify genuine beneficiaries under various government schemes. He claimed that verification of ration cards had identified 5.8 crore beneficiaries who did not exist. Similarly, he claimed that since 2019, 4.45 crore people had been identified under MGNREGS who did not exist but had allegedly received wages.

He asked why the Congress had an objection to verifying deceased and duplicate voters in electoral rolls when, according to him, crores of suspected beneficiaries could be identified in ration cards and MGNREGS. He also asked whom the Congress intended to benefit by seeking voting rights for absent, transferred, deceased and duplicate voters without verification.

Dr Trivedi asked how many institutions the Congress had accused so far and how many of those allegations had been proved. He said the Congress had questioned several institutions, including the Army, Air Force, defence establishments, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), State Bank of India (SBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the judiciary, the media and vaccines.

He said Rahul Gandhi had also questioned India’s electoral process and democratic institutions abroad, whereas India’s electoral system and the functioning of the Election Commission had received appreciation at the international level.

The BJP spokesperson said that even before 2003, the Congress had lost power in several states with a large number of Lok Sabha seats. Referring to Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Odisha, he said the Congress’s political position in these states had weakened because of its own politics and leadership, and not because of electoral rolls.

He asked the Congress who was responsible for its loss of power in the states where it was no longer in government before 2003. Dr Trivedi also asked Rahul Gandhi how many Assembly elections he had campaigned in by staying continuously in a state for one week, one-and-a-half weeks or two weeks.

Dr Trivedi said by-elections were currently being held in several states and asked the Congress to clarify whether it had completed verification of the electoral rolls for these elections. He said Congress candidates, election agents and party workers were participating in the electoral process. If there was any irregularity in the electoral rolls, he said, the Congress should immediately raise an objection through the prescribed procedure rather than making political allegations later.

Dr Trivedi raised five questions for the Congress. He asked how many constitutional institutions the party had accused so far and how many of those allegations had been proved. He further asked that if 4.5 crore suspected beneficiaries could be identified under MGNREGS and 5.8 crore under ration cards, why the Congress believed that suspected voters could not be identified in electoral rolls.

He also asked who was responsible for the Congress losing power in the states where it was out of government before 2003, how many elections Rahul Gandhi had campaigned in while staying continuously in a state for one week, one-and-a-half weeks or two weeks, and whether the Congress had completed verification of electoral rolls for the ongoing by-elections.

Dr Trivedi said Congress leaders had earlier stressed the need to identify and remove duplicate and deceased voters but were now opposing the verification process. He alleged that the Congress had also failed to take its alliance partners into confidence on the issue of electoral rolls and was nevertheless attempting to mislead the country.

He said the Congress should also introspect on its political numbers and organisational position in view of its successive electoral defeats. Dr Trivedi said that instead of making allegations, the Congress should present its case on the basis of facts and the prescribed constitutional process.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar