Congress Accuses BJP of Voter Manipulation in Rajasthan

Allegations of Fraudulent Voter Removal

On Monday, the Congress party accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan of engaging in a scheme to unlawfully eliminate voters who support the opposition from the electoral rolls. This allegation arose during a special intensive revision process in the state, where the Congress claims that forged forms were utilized.

During a press conference, Tikaram Jully, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, along with Govind Singh Dotasra, the state Congress chief, called for a forensic examination of the forms used to request the removal of voters' names.

Dotasra pointed out that the draft voter rolls released on December 16 indicated that approximately 4.5 million individuals were marked as absent, relocated, or deceased.

Individuals whose names were removed from the voter list had until January 15 to file claims and objections, a deadline that was later extended by the Election Commission to January 19.

“Prior to January 3, everything was functioning smoothly,” he claimed. “However, after BJP’s National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh visited Rajasthan on January 3, the fraudulent process of adding and removing votes commenced.”

The BJP has yet to respond to these allegations. However, state minister Gautam Dak stated that if a voter's name is proposed for removal, the individual is given an opportunity to be heard. He suggested that the Congress is merely seeking to create controversy.

According to Dotasra, data from the Election Commission revealed that between December 17 and January 14, the BJP submitted requests through 937 booth-level agents to add 211 names while deleting 5,694 voters.

In contrast, the Congress submitted requests to add 185 names and remove only two voters during the same timeframe.

“We had previously expressed concerns that the BJP and the Election Commission would collude to extend the deadline for removing names of individuals aligned with Congress ideology,” he alleged. “And that is precisely what transpired.”

Dotasra further noted that in Jhunjhunu, 13,882 Form 7 applications for name deletions were submitted in a single day, with similar high numbers reported in other areas.

Form 7 is the application used to request the removal of names from the electoral rolls.

He also mentioned that Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state on January 13 and stayed at the chief minister's residence, suggesting that a covert operation was conducted by the BJP during the period from January 3 to January 13.

“In every Assembly constituency, between 10,000 to 15,000 fake computerized forms are printed,” he claimed. “All MLAs and candidates are summoned, including ministers.”

Dotasra alleged that on January 13, 14, and 15, thousands of forms were submitted in each Assembly constituency to remove names from the voter lists, particularly targeting areas where Congress had previously won.

He asserted that these forms were distributed to eliminate individuals associated with the Congress ideology and those dissatisfied with the current government, especially seniors over 60 years old.

“The regulations state that after the draft publication, a single booth-level officer can submit only 10 forms per day,” Dotasra emphasized. “The number of forms submitted by January 14 speaks for itself.”

The Congress leader claimed that BJP MLAs, ministers, and candidates had forged signatures of booth-level agents to submit thousands of forms to various sub-divisional magistrates.

“In my own constituency, 627 forms were submitted, and when they attempted to submit 2,000 more, the SDM refused to accept them,” Dotasra stated.

He added that several booth-level agents had publicly stated that they had not signed these forms, alleging that the signatures were forged and the applications incomplete.

Dotasra mentioned that the Congress had alerted the Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer about the alleged fraud, claiming that immense pressure was being exerted on officials to accept these forms.

He noted that by January 15, the BJP had managed to register nearly 140,000 names.

Dotasra also mentioned that BJP leaders claimed they were removing the names of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas from the voter lists when questioned about the deletions.

The Congress party vowed to prevent any infringement on democracy within the state.

Previously, the opposition party had accused the ruling BJP of orchestrating mass voter deletions during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, as reported by various media outlets.

This accusation followed the circulation of a video in which a booth-level officer alleged he was being coerced to delete hundreds of voters from the rolls in his constituency.

In the video, Kirti Kumar, a government teacher serving as a booth-level officer, reportedly stated, “I will visit the collector’s office and will kill myself there,” indicating the pressure he faced.

Kumar claimed he was being threatened to comply with the BJP’s requests for the deletion of 470 voters, primarily Muslims, from the draft electoral rolls.

Hawa Mahal, the constituency in question, has a significant Muslim population and was won by BJP MLA Balmukund Acharya in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Suresh Saini, the local councillor, denied Kumar’s allegations, asserting that there was substantial fraud in the voter list.

“Fake addresses are being used to register fake voters,” he claimed, stating that he raised objections and sought the removal of such names with evidence.

The special intensive revision of electoral rolls is currently taking place in 12 states and Union Territories, including Rajasthan, and is in the claims and objections phase.

In Bihar, where the revision was completed ahead of the Assembly polls in November, at least 4.7 million voters were excluded from the final electoral roll.

Concerns had been raised regarding the potential removal of eligible voters during this exercise, leading several petitioners to approach the Supreme Court.