‘Avoids issue of Gen Z voters’: Congress attacks EC’s ‘wishy-washy’ press note, seeks pause in SIR | India News
NEW DELHI: Congress hit back at the election commission over the statement they issued amid the ongoing SIR row, claiming they’re in “damage control mode” and adding that EC didn’t deny the media report claims and gave a “wishy washy” statement which “avoids answering the questions regarding the deliberate targeting of Gen Z voters.““The Election Commission is in damage control mode after it has already caused massive damage to our democracy. It has just issued a wishy-washy Press Note that raises further questions on its intent, integrity, impartiality and credibility,” said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on X, while sharing his full response to the EC press note.He raised 6 points in his statement as below:
- First, the Press note does not directly deny the story or its findings. It makes a defensive attempt to downplay the same in paragraph 3(i) and 3(ii) but does not say that the allegations are baseless.
- Second, in the case of Goa, after having been caught out the ECI has sheepishly stated that Form 6 has already been filled out for inclusion by 81 of the 97 deleted voters. To put this another way, you disenfranchise voters through a broken and corrupt system, and when caught say that they are being added back.
- Third, it seeks to justify the Commissions actions by appealing to the Order of the Supreme Court dated May 27th, 2026. The Order which was pronounced well before the recent revelations will not save the CEC for the malicious deletion of targeted voters, for the incompetence that has resulted in citizens being wiped off the roles, for the crores lost in both expenses and man-hours due to the confusion and harassment caused to entire families.
- Fourth, it extends the deadlines for voter registration in Delhi and Maharashtra. But what happens to the voters of Karnataka and Telangana? What happens to the voters disenfranchised in Bihar and West Bengal? Do the voters of these and other states who were deleted due to one man’s corruption not deserve answers?
- Fifth, the Press Release also states the ECI will now involve experts from IIT/IIIT to review the ECINET portal and submit a report to ensure it complies with rules. Aside from being a meaningless safeguard (since the concern is not about the technical soundness but rather the centralization which prevents voter addition at ground level) this confirms the concerns attributed to the two other Election Commissioners per the reportage.
- Sixth, the Press Note avoids answering the questions regarding the deliberate targeting of Gen Z voters. The ECI has no answer for its targeted disenfranchisement, beginning mid-July 2026 through wholly illegal changes made to Form 6 (unseen and unapproved by Parliament) which placed an unfair burden on them to find and disclose their parents and/or grandparents’ details.
Further continuing the party’s “vote chori” allegations, he added, “The revelations regarding (1) the unilateral nature of decision making by the CEC, (2) his open hatred and bias against the Opposition resulting in a clear bias, (3) his willing participation and abetment in Vote Chori by the ruling regime, (4) his specific attack to prevent the enrollment of Gen Z voters, (5) his corruption exposed ironically by his negligence in purging and pruning voter lists, needs to be answered for.“Jairam Ramesh also called for suspension of SIR and prosecution against Gyanesh Kumar, saying, “The CEC thinks he can hide behind ‘bureaucratise’ and protocol. He stands exposed and is now petrified as an entire country seeks to hold him accountable. The ongoing SIR which has turned to be method of massive disenfranchisement of several crores of India must be suspended immediately without delay. In the meantime, nothing short of the CEC’s resignation or prosecution will suffice.”Congress has took multiple jabs at EC, since the report of 2 election commissioners disagreeing amid the SIR process came out. In another development, Rahul Gandhi, questioned the EC over former kerala chief secretary Jiji Thomson claimed in a media interview that Gyanesh Kumar approached and asked him to contest on a BJP ticket, even offering a ministerial position. The LoP added to those claims, saying on X, “First, Gyanesh Kumar – then a serving IAS officer – was used to recruit for the BJP. Then Modi and Shah made him the umpire and put him in charge of match-fixing India’s elections.”This comes as the Election Commission (EC) issued a clarification on Saturday amid reports of differences within the poll panel over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The EC said all decisions on SIR, including the nationwide exercise, were approved unanimously by the Commission.
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It also announced measures to ease the process for voters who receive notices over unmapped names or discrepancies. BLOs will visit their homes to collect documents, while hearings will be held only in exceptional cases, preferably online.The EC said SIR has been completed in 20 states and UTs, while excluded voters and first-time voters can seek inclusion through continuous updation.The Commission also extended claim and objection deadlines in Delhi and Maharashtra and said an IIT/IIIT expert would be part of a committee reviewing the ECINet system.
