INDIA bloc revives paper ballot demand, lists steps to target CEC

Opposition parties on Wednesday revived their demand to replace electronic voting machines (EVMs) with paper ballots and announced a six-point programme—ranging from public rallies to petition to President—to target chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Preparing for the next phase of political battle over the special intensive revision, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) accused the CEC and the government of manipulating voter rolls during SIR to subvert electoral integrity and alleged that Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were treating the election commission as their puppets. The Opposition had demanded replacing EVMs with ballot papers during Modi’s first and second terms, but the issue had fizzled out in the past few years.

“Everyone has decided to fight together in a united manner,” declared Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge after a three-and-a-half-hour strategy session. He confirmed that all participating leaders “100% agreed that instead of EVMs, paper ballots should be used”. He also called for reversing recent election law amendments. A Congress leader said it was a reference to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants legal immunity to the CEC and election commissioners.

“Modi and Shah are treating the election commission of India as their puppet. They are winning elections by deceit,” Kharge said, comparing the SIR deletions to the 2016 high-value currency ban.

“First, Modi did notebandi; now he is doing vote bandi to rob citizens of their rights,” Kharge said.

Nineteen Opposition parties and independent MP Kapil Sibal attended the meeting at Constitution Club. Three months ago, 21 Opposition parties had met at the same venue to demand resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over paper leaks. In June, the parties also planned to write to the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on SIR-related issues.

From Tamil Nadu, only VCK attended the meeting. Many leaders demanded that efforts should be made to include DMK in the larger sphere of Opposition unity.

As part of the six-point programme, Kharge said the INDIA bloc leaders will organise “Save Democracy” marches throughout the country from October 2 to 8 with the involvement of the general public, youth and “everyone who believe in democracy and unity”.

Opposition MPs will also march to EC on October 6.

“Leaders of Opposition will seek appointment from President of India to give a representation on our problems and against the chori ki sarkar (govt with a stolen mandate),” Kharge added.

Kharge said both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members will participate and all parties will be invited to join the October 6 march.

There will be five big rallies to reach out to the people . The Opposition has planned another rally in Delhi on November 1. The Opposition will also write to the judiciary to expedite the cases related to SIR and electoral issues.

Kharge lauded party leader Rahul Gandhi for his campaign, saying people earlier didn’t believe allegations of vote theft but now everyone realised that he was right.

To be sure, HT’s analysis of SIR deletions by constituency has shown no correlation with the outcome; and some of the deletions have been caused by death and migration. But the exclusion of millions of voters from draft rolls — in Delhi, 33% of the UT’s 14.5 million voters were excluded— has resulted in public angst and anxiety. Revelations by the Indian Express last week that two election commissioners disagreed with some of the decisions, and that the central database of electors wasn’t accessible to on-ground officers tasked with adding and deleting names have caused a stir. EC has since clarified that all decisions have been unanimous, based on the majority, and also modified the SIR process to reduce the inconvenience to voters.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said all parties agreed that Modi, Amit Shah and CEC Gyanesh Kumar had assaulted Indian democracy. He said the Opposition was successful in putting across the concern about manipulation of elections and promised changes.

“The Opposition leaders are collective defenders. We will make serious changes in the country,” Gandhi added.

Mamata Banerjee said Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav were the first ones to speak about vote theft, a reference to the rally addressed by the two leaders in Bihar last year. “Vanish (Gyanesh) Kumar chor hai, daaku hai. He should resign immediately. Let us save democracy and let the security of voting right be restored. If votes are stolen, then how can country run?” Banerjee asked. Later, Sonia Gandhi could be seen praising Banerjee for her fiery speech.

She also questioned the software used by EC, ERONET, that processes enumeration forms and attempts to match a current elector with a corresponding entry in the base rolls, and said the Opposition was ready to fight against Modi.

Some leaders including Uddhav Thackeray spoke about the influence of Cockroach Janta Party and independent MP Kapil Sibal explained the legal immunity enjoyed by the CEC and the two ECs. He advised that the Opposition should try to file FIR against Seema Khanna, EC’s director general IT as she doesn’t enjoy the immunity .

Omar Abdullah expressed reservation to the plan to meet President Droupadi Murmu over this issue. He said that in Jammu&Kashmir, earlier the challenge was to come out and vote. But now, the vote chori has become the challenge.