ECINET, voter deletions and more: What ECI announced amid ‘vote chori’ row, why Congress calls steps ‘piecemeal’

The Congress party continued to mount attack on the Election Commission saying its ‘piecemeal’ steps for deleted or at-risk voters will do little to mitigate ‘mass disenfranchisement.’ The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back, saying those who benefited from "dirty rolls" are now crying foul.

The attack and counter-attack came on Sunday, a day after the Election Commission announced a series of decisions on issues that two election commissioners had raised in internal communications over the past 10 months, ranging from changes to voter registration forms to access to electoral roll databases and the functioning of its IT systems.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on Saturday.

This came after The Indian Express reported that Joshi and Sandhu had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over a 10-month period to decisions and orders, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge.

The BJP said that over one crore duplicate entries and 2.8 crore names of deceased voters were removed from electoral rolls across 31 states and UTs under the SIR exercise, which is "exposing the rot", and those who benefited from dirty rolls are now crying foul.

The ruling party also slammed the Congress for "misleading" people on the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and asked it to respond to its defeat in various elections by respecting democratic mandate, not with lies.

"Here's a question nobody from the INDI Alliance wants to answer: Who benefited from keeping these duplicate names on the rolls? If there was nothing to hide, why the panic over cleaning up voter lists?" the BJP said in a post on its X handle.

In another post, it said that 9.43 crore absent and shifted names have been identified and removed from electoral rolls. "That's not a minor clean-up. That's 9.92% of the total electorate on the rolls. Yet the INDI Alliance is opposing the very exercise that is meant to ensure accurate voter lists," the BJP said.

It said 2.8 crore names of deceased voters were removed from electoral rolls across 31 states and UTs under the SIR exercise.

Youth Congress protest in Delhi

Wearing masks bearing the faces of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Youth Congress on Friday staged a protest against the Election Commission, demanding greater accountability and transparency in the electoral process and rolls.

The protesters marched from the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) office on Raisina Road and were moving towards Jantar Mantar. They raised slogans and carried posters and banners demanding accountability from Kumar.

IYC president Uday Bhanu Chib led the demonstration, with the youth wing announcing plans to gherao the Election Commission office.

"We are protesting because the Election Commission is responsible for protecting the sanctity of every vote. When questions are being raised within the Commission itself over decisions concerning electoral rolls, the country deserves answers and accountability," Chib said.

BJP responds

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Election Commission, in its statement on Saturday, clearly stated that all major decisions, including SIR, were taken unanimously by all three election commissioners.

Yet, the Congress is not shying away from misleading people and questioning the credibility of constitutional institutions like the Election Commission, Trivedi said in a post on X.

The Congress lashed out at the BJP over its assertion that the SIR had removed 2.8 crore names of deceased voters from the electoral rolls, asking if the annual Summary Revisions since 2014 were "really that shoddy".

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Monday hit back at Union Minister JP Nadda over his criticism of the Opposition's allegations against the Election Commission, asserting that Rahul Gandhi's claims about the poll panel had been “established” by the objections raised by two Election Commissioners.

Speaking to ANI, Venugopal was responding to Nadda's remarks that the EC had exposed the Opposition's “lies” and that repeating a falsehood multiple times did not make it true.

“Rahul Gandhi doesn't tell any lie. He tells the truth only. That has been established now by two Election Commissioners, not by Congress leaders," he said.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said on Sunday that 13 crore voters have been removed under the SIR. "The BJP says 2.8 crore were deceased voters. Fair enough. What about the remaining 10.2 crore?" he said on X.

Is the BJP admitting that it has failed for years to maintain electoral rolls properly? If not, where did the other 10.2 crore names go? Khera said.

‘Piecemeal’ steps for deleted or at-risk voters

The Congress also said the EC's proposed measures related to SIR are an admission that the exercise has been a "disaster" and asserted that the "piecemeal" steps for deleted or at-risk voters will do little to mitigate this "mass disenfranchisement".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the press note issued by the Election Commission last night has already been debunked and exposed for what it is- "a desperate attempt at damage control that hides all and reveals nothing".

Ramesh put out what he described as a "further demolition" of the thoroughly meaningless press note of the EC. He said the proposed measures around the SIR of electoral rolls are an admission that it has been a "disaster".

"The piecemeal measures for deleted or at-risk voters will do little to mitigate this mass disenfranchisement. For 5.43 crore voters who are at risk of deletion, the EC has promised that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will now visit their houses. This was supposed to happen during the house-to-house enumeration phase," Ramesh said in his statement posted on X.

"We know that in practice these visits were sparse and sporadic. What is the value of promising a second round of visits which likely will not happen? The logic of repeating a process done poorly once must be examined," he said.

What is the point of this SIR process which has turned into a "colossal waste" of public resources and a nuisance for every citizen, Ramesh asked.

"For nearly 14 crore voters deleted so far in all 3 phases of the SIR, the Commission's answer is that they must now apply afresh to their Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) for inclusion. First disenfranchise en masse, and then ask voters to get themselves re-added," the Congress leader said.

Measures announced by Election Commission

The Election Commission announced that booth-level officers (BLOs) will now conduct home visits to collect and upload documents on its unified portal, ECINet, for unmapped persons or those with logical discrepancies.

In-person hearings at ERO/AERO (Electoral Registration Officers/Assistant Electoral Registration Officers) offices are no longer required unless in exceptional circumstances, and will preferably take place online.

The Election Commission directed district election officers (DECOs) to create an adequate number of help desks/hold special camps for the people living in night shelters, labourers, poor people, homeless, as per requirement.

The poll panel claimed that various upgrades to the portal have already been made based on input from state chief electoral officers over the past few months. If any further flexibility is required by the field officers, it will be made operational, it added.

Centrality of the ECINet software

There is widespread evidence of targeted deletions of marginalised voters to benefit the BJP and the EC has not addressed this charge, he said.

"The centrality of the ECINet software to the electoral roll preparation, its deletion of eligible voters and illegal override of EROs have not been denied. Nothing has been proposed to substantively address these issues," Ramesh said.

The EC has proposed a committee to certify that the software "complies with the Acts and Rules", he said, adding that this is an admission that its legality is in doubt after it has been used all over the country during the SIR.

He also said the lack of transparency around widespread use of AI in electoral roll preparation is dangerous.

What is ECINet software?

ECINet (or ECINET) is a centralized digital software platform launched by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on January 22, 2026. It acts as a single, unified gateway that consolidates roughly 40 legacy election applications and databases (such as ERONET) behind a single login to serve citizens, political candidates, and election officials.

The platform is accessible as a web platform and a mobile application via the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store

CPI(M) rejects ECI statement

The CPI(M) also rejected the Election Commission's statement, saying that it failed to address the serious issues raised by recent disclosures.

The Left party reiterated its demand for the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo said the concerns raised by opposition parties and civil society organisations over the SIR process have been reinforced by disclosure of objections within the Commission itself.

For nearly 14 crore voters deleted so far in all 3 phases of the SIR, the Commission's answer is that they must now apply afresh to their Electoral Registration Officers for inclusion.

"The Election Commission of India's statement issued on September 26 does not address the serious questions raised by disclosures about the Commission's functioning and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls," the Politburo said.