The Election Commission of India (ECI) began its press conference at the National Media Centre in New Delhi on Sunday around 3:10 pm, with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the two Election Commissioners, and several senior officials in attendance. This marks the poll body’s first media interaction since the launch of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The briefing is expected to address recent political developments, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of vote theft.Addressing the media, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar underlined the poll body’s constitutional mandate, stating that every citizen above 18 must not only be registered as a voter but also exercise their right to vote. He emphasised that all political parties are treated equally by the Commission. “Every political party is born through registration with the Election Commission. Then how can the Election Commission discriminate among them? For the Election Commission, all are equal. No matter which political party one belongs to, the Commission will not step back from its constitutional duty,” he said.Reiterating the Commission’s transparency, Kumar added that the doors of the Election Commission remain open to all stakeholders equally. He said voters, political parties, and booth-level officers (BLOs) were working together to verify and sign documents, even providing video testimonials during the SIR in Bihar. He expressed concern that these verified documents and testimonials, including those from district party presidents and nominated BLOs, were either not reaching state and national leaders of parties or were being ignored to spread confusion. “The truth is that step by step all stakeholders are committed, trying and working hard to make the SIR of Bihar a complete success. When more than seven crore voters of Bihar are standing with the Election Commission, then neither can any question mark be raised on the credibility of the Election Commission nor on the credibility of the voters,” he said.Kumar without naming anyone criticised the circulation of voters’ photographs in the media without consent. “We saw a few days ago that photos of many voters were presented to the media without their permission. Allegations were made against them, they were used. Should the Election Commission share the CCTV videos of any voter, including their mothers, daughters-in-law, daughters? Only those whose names are in the voter list cast their votes to elect their candidate,” he said, this comes after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi releasing documents to back his ‘vote chori’ charge during a press conference.Defending the integrity of the electoral process, Kumar noted that in the conduct of Lok Sabha elections, more than one crore employees, over 10 lakh booth-level agents, and more than 20 lakh polling agents of candidates are involved. “In such a transparent process in front of so many people, can any voter steal votes?” he asked. Responding to allegations of double voting, he said, “Some voters alleged double voting. When asked for proof, no answer was given. Neither the Election Commission nor any voter is afraid of such false allegations. When politics is being done by targeting the voters of India by keeping a gun on the shoulder of the Election Commission, today the Election Commission wants to make it clear to everyone that the Election Commission fearlessly stood like a rock with all the voters of all sections and all religions including the poor, rich, elderly, women, youth, without any discrimination, is standing and will continue to stand.”On the question of legal remedies, Kumar reminded that the law provides a clear window to challenge election results. “Even after the returning officer declares the results, there is a provision in the law that within a period of 45 days, political parties can go to the Supreme Court and file an election petition to challenge the election. After this 45-day period, making such baseless allegations, be it in Kerala, Karnataka, or Bihar… when that 45-day period after the elections is over and during that period no candidate or political party finds any irregularity, then today, after so many days, the voters and people of the country understand the intention behind making such baseless allegations,” he said.On demands for machine-readable voter lists, Kumar recalled the Supreme Court’s stand. “As far as the machine-readable voter list is concerned, the Supreme Court has already said in 2019 that this could be a violation of voter privacy,” he said.Clarifying concerns over non-citizens in electoral rolls, Kumar stressed that only Indian citizens have the right to contest elections. “I want to make it clear that according to the Constitution of India, only Indian citizens can contest the election of MP and MLA. People from other countries do not have the right to contest elections. If such people have filled out the enumeration form, then during the SIR process, they will have to prove their nationality by submitting some documents. Their names will be removed after the investigation,” he said.Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar says, “…The three Election Commissioners will decide when the exercise of SIR will be carried out in West Bengal or other states”Kumar also clarified that decisions on holding similar exercises in other states were yet to be taken. “The three Election Commissioners will decide when the exercise of SIR will be carried out in West Bengal or other states,” he said.(This is a live event, follow for updates)
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