NEW DELHI: To step up its ‘Vote Chori’ campaign led by Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi Congress has formed booth-level teams to verify voter rolls ahead of the November 30 MCD by-elections.
According to party leaders, the verification drive will initially cover 12 wards going to polls and later expand citywide until the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls begins.
Delhi is expected to be included in the next SIR phase after March next year. Election Commission sources confirmed that the Delhi Electoral Office has already trained Booth Level Agents (BLAs), who will play a key role in the process.
Delhi Congress leaders said the campaign aims to identify duplicate and invalid voter entries, in a bid to counter what the party describes as “systematic manipulation” of rolls.
Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said the party’s booth management committee is “fully prepared” for the upcoming bypolls. “Congress booth-level teams have been going door-to-door for the past nine months to raise awareness among voters about the anti-people rule of the BJP’s Rekha Gupta government. The public has seen through their failures, and this election will reflect that mood,” Yadav said.
Rajesh Garg, chairman of the Delhi Congress Booth Management Committee, said the party has formed five-member teams at each polling booth and trained them in booth management.
“Our teams, consisting of BLAs and four other party workers, will go door-to-door and verify voters of the poll-bound wards. We aim to finish this exercise before voting day so that we share our findings with the poll body prior to that,” Garg said.
Yadav added that the party’s booth teams are also urging voters to stay alert during the polls. “Under the rule of the BJP and AAP, the MCD has failed miserably in providing basic civic amenities. Their promises of a ‘triple-engine government’ have proved hollow. Our campaign will focus on issues such as cleanliness, Yamuna pollution and the maintenance of public spaces,” he said.