ECINET, voter erasure and more: What ECI announced amid ‘vote chori’ row, why Congress calls steps ‘piecemeal’ | Today’s news
The Congress party continued to attack the Election Commission, saying its “partial” steps for excluded or at-risk voters would do little to alleviate “mass disenfranchisement”. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back, saying that those who benefited from the “dirty rolls” are now crying foul.
The attack and counter-attack came on Sunday, a day after the Electoral Commission announced a series of decisions on issues raised by two electoral commissioners in internal communications over the past 10 months, from changes to voter registration forms to access to electoral roll databases and the operation of its IT systems.
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The decisions were taken at a meeting between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on Saturday.
This comes after The Indian Express reported that Joshi and Sandhu had recorded at least 14 objections against decisions and orders in 10 months, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge.
The BJP said more than one million duplicate entries and 2.8 million names of deceased voters were removed from electoral rolls in 31 states and UTs in an SIR exercise that “exposes the rot” and those who benefited from the tainted lists are now crying foul.
The ruling party also slammed the Congress for “misleading the people on the issue of Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls and asked it to respond to its defeat in various elections by respecting the democratic mandate and not by lying.”
“Here’s the question that no one at the INDI Alliance wants to answer: Who benefited by keeping these duplicate names on the rolls? If there was nothing to hide, why the panic to purge the voter rolls?” BJP said in a post on its X handle.
Another post said that 9.43 million missing and shifted names had been identified and removed from electoral rolls. “This is no petty cleaning. This is 9.92% of the total number of voters on the rolls. However, the INDI alliance opposes the exercise itself to ensure accurate voter rolls,” the BJP said.
As part of the SIR exercise, 2.8 lakh names of deceased voters were removed from electoral rolls in 31 states and UTs.
Delhi Youth Congress protest
Wearing masks bearing the faces of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Youth Congress staged a protest against the Election Commission on Friday, demanding greater accountability and transparency in the electoral process and lists.
The protesters marched from the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) office on Raisina Road and moved towards Jantar Mantar. They raised slogans and carried placards and banners demanding accountability from Kumar.
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IYC president Uday Bhanu Chib led the demonstration and the youth wing announced plans to gherao the election commission office.
“We are protesting because the Electoral Commission is responsible for protecting the sanctity of every vote. When questions are raised within the Commission itself about decisions regarding 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 made it clear that all major decisions, including the SIR, were taken unanimously by all the three Election Commissioners.
Still, the Congress does not shy away from misleading the people and questioning the credibility of constitutional institutions like the Election Commission, Trivedi said in a post on X.
The Congress hit out at the BJP over its claim that the SIR had removed 2.8 million names of deceased voters from the electoral rolls and asked if the annual summary revisions since 2014 were “really that shoddy”.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Monday hit out at Union minister JP Nadda over his criticism of opposition allegations against the Election Commission, claiming that Rahul Gandhi’s claims about the election panel were “shelved” on the basis of objections raised by two election commissioners.
In an interview with ANI, Venugopal reacted to Nadda’s remarks that the EC had exposed the opposition’s “lies” and that repeating a falsehood over and over did not make it true.
“Rahul Gandhi is not telling any lie. He is only telling the truth. This has now been established by the two Election Commissioners, not the Congress leaders,” he said.
Congress media and publicity chief Pawan Khera said on Sunday that 13 lakh voters have been removed under the SIR. “BJP says 2.8 million were deceased voters. Fair enough. What about the remaining 10.2 million?” said on X.
Does the BJP admit that it has failed to properly maintain voter rolls for years? If not, where did the other 10.2 million go? Khera said.
“Tentative” steps for deleted or at-risk voters
The Congress also said the EC’s proposed measures on SIR are an admission that the exercise has been a “disaster”, and argued that “partial” steps for excluded or at-risk voters will do little to alleviate this “mass disenfranchisement”.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the press release issued by the Election Commission last night had already been exposed and exposed for what it is – “a desperate attempt at damage control that hides everything and reveals nothing”.
Ramesh posted what he described as “another demolition” of a completely nonsensical EC press release. He said the proposed measures around the SIR electoral roll were an admission that it was a “disaster”.
“Partial measures for deleted or at-risk voters will do little to mitigate this mass disenfranchisement. For the 5.43 lakh voters who are at risk of deletion, the EC has promised that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will now visit their homes. This was to happen during the door-to-door enumeration phase,” Ramesh said in a statement.
“We know that in practice these visits have been infrequent and sporadic. What value is there in promising a second round of visits that are unlikely to happen? The logic of repeating a process that was done wrong once needs to 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 to every citizen, asked Ramesh.
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“For nearly 14 million voters who have been deleted in all 3 phases of SIR so far, the Commission’s response is that they now have to re-apply their Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) for inclusion. First disenfranchise en masse and then ask the voters to re-enlist,” the Congress leader said.
Measures announced by the Electoral Commission
The Election Commission has announced that booth level officers (BLOs) will now conduct home visits to collect and upload documents on its ECINet unified portal for uncharted 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 exceptional circumstances arise and will be held online where possible.
The Election Commission has directed the District Election Officers (DECOs) to set up adequate number of help desks / organize special camps for hostel dwellers, labourers, poor people, homeless people as per requirement.
The poll panel claimed that various updates to the portal have already been made in the last few months on the suggestions of the state’s chief electoral officers. If officers in the field require more flexibility, it will be operationalized, he added.
ECINet software centrality
There is extensive evidence of targeted erasure of marginalized voters in favor of the BJP and the EC has not looked into the allegation, he said.
“The centrality of the ECINet software to the preparation of the electoral roll, its erasure of eligible voters and the illegal suppression of the ERO has not been denied. Nothing has been proposed to substantively address these issues,” Ramesh said.
The EC has proposed a commission to certify that the software “complies with laws and regulations”, he said, adding that this is an admission that its legality is questionable after it was used across the country during the SIR.
He also said that the lack of transparency around the 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 22 January 2026. It acts as a single, unified gateway that consolidates around 40 legacy election applications and databases (such as ERONET) through a single sign-on to serve citizens, political candidates and election officials.
The platform is accessible as a web platform and mobile application through the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store
CPI(M) rejects ECI’s statement
The CPI(M) also rejected the Election Commission’s statement, saying it did not address the serious issues raised by the recent revelations.
The Left Party reiterated its demand for the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
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The CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement that concerns raised by opposition parties and civil society organizations about the SIR process were reinforced by the publication of objections within the Commission itself.
For the nearly 14 million voters who have so far been struck out in all 3 phases of the SIR, the Commission’s response is that they must now re-apply 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 the publication of information on the functioning of the commission and the special intensive revision of electoral rolls,” the Politburo said.
