The EC says it will resolve the issue in three months. (Representational)
Trinamool Congress leaders met the Election Commission on Tuesday over the issue of duplicate voter ID numbers and alleged that Aadhaar cards were being cloned which may lead to the possibility of these being used for fake voter registration.
The party demanded that the EC issue a separate list of voter deletions, new additions and modifications with every new revised electoral roll.
Speaking to the media after the ten-member TMC delegation met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other Election Commissioners, party leader Sagarika Ghose expressed scepticism over the poll panel's recent statement assuring that the concerns would be addressed in three months.
"This is an extremely serious issue. Ever since West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee flagged the issue, all parties have realised it's a serious issue that poses a threat to electoral democracy," Ms Ghose, who is TMC Rajya Sabha deputy leader, said.
"The EC says it will resolve the issue in three months... We are asking if you don't even know the number, how are you giving the deadline?" she said.
Amid allegations of a cover-up over duplicate voter identity card numbers, the Election Commission had on Friday said it will address the "decades-long" matter in the next three months.
Ms Ghose said that there is "credible evidence" that Aadhaar cards are also being cloned, and expressed concern that they may be used for getting "fake voter ID cards" issued.
"Why has the EC not stated that seeding Aadhaar with voter ID card is voluntary and not compulsory," she said.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, said in a post on X that the issue will be resolved by Booth Level Officers and Electoral Registration Officers concerned.
"ECI welcomed the delegation of Trinamool Congress today. The Commission mentioned that all concerns including duplicate EPIC numbers, duplicate, shifted and dead voters and illegal migrants will be resolved by each Booth Level Officer and concerned Electoral Registration Officer with active participation of Booth level Agents appointed by all political parties," the poll panel said.
In a four-page memorandum submitted to the poll panel, the TMC said EPIC numbers consist of an alphanumeric sequence of three letters known as the "Functional Unique Serial Number (FUSN)" which is different for every Assembly constituency in India, and seven digits, are supposed to be unique.
"How were EPICs with the same number issued to voters in multiple Assembly constituencies across various states in the country?" the TMC said.
They also questioned how the poll panel would ensure that the "cloning" of Aadhaar would not affect voter registrations.
"Why has ECI not clearly stated on its Form 6B that seeding Aadhaar with EPIC is an entirely voluntary process and that it is not compulsory.
"How does the ECI ensure that the alleged cloning of Aadhaar numbers does not affect the EPIC and electoral registration of voters?" TMC said.
They said similar concerns have been expressed over the recently concluded elections in Maharashtra and Delhi, where opposition parties have alleged discrepancies in the electoral rolls including the inclusion of disproportionate numbers of new voters through the online mechanism.
"It raises several questions about people being denied the right to vote," the TMC said.
It said that there is no existing mechanism to determine how many voter names have been deleted and how many new voters have been added after every revision of the electoral roll.
"Therefore, it is extremely important that the ECI issue a separate list of voter deletions, new additions, and modifications (as compared against the final electoral roll of the previous cycle) with every new revised electoral roll.
"This will go a long way in enhancing transparency and will allow for public scrutiny of changes in the voter database," the TMC said.
The memorandum said that field visits conducted across West Bengal reveal that there has been an addition of several fake voters to the electoral roll through the online portal, due to a lack of a proper verification system for uploaded documents particularly address proofs voters are being fraudulently registered.
It said there are cases of such "fake" voter registration applications being approved by electoral officials through their apps (BLOapp & ERONET).
"Therefore, the ECI must clarify the steps being taken to prevent online voter registration based on fake documents and how it plans to ensure a robust verification mechanism," it added.
TMC Rajya Sabha Parliamentary party leader Derek O'Brien, Lok Sabha MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Kirti Azad, Sajda Ahmed, Asit Kumar Mal, Abu Taher Khan and Rajya Sabha MPs Prakash Chik Baraik and Saket Gokhale were part of the delegation.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
