Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Monday accused the Centre and the Election Commission of influencing the electoral process through a series of measures, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, proposed delimitation of constituencies and the use of electoral bonds.
In a post on X, Gogoi described these as a "Modi-Shah-Election Commission of India package" and listed 10 alleged practices that he claimed were being used to benefit the ruling BJP during elections.
The Congress leader began with delimitation, or the redrawing of electoral constituencies, and the SIR exercise, alleging that the latter involved the inclusion of fake voters and deletion of genuine voters. He also flagged electoral bonds, which allowed anonymous political donations before the Supreme Court struck down the scheme in 2024. Gogoi alleged that the system benefited corporate donors by shielding them from income tax and Enforcement Directorate scrutiny.
He further accused the BJP of encouraging splits in Opposition parties and freezing their election symbols, while alleging that government officers who complied with the ruling establishment's wishes were rewarded with better promotions through transfers and postings.
Gogoi's remaining points included legal protection for the Chief Election Commissioner, the scheduling of election campaigns, alleged selective enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct to allow communal remarks and hate speech, faulty electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the scrutiny of candidates to disqualify Opposition nominees.
The allegations come amid an intensifying confrontation between Opposition parties and the Election Commission over the SIR exercise and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. INDIA bloc parties have demanded Kumar's resignation and called for the revision exercise to be withdrawn.
The dispute has also triggered a war of words between Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Opposition's allegations concerning the electoral revision process.
Gandhi had challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to an open debate on the SIR exercise. Responding to the challenge, Shah asked the Congress leader to raise the issue in Parliament, questioning the basis of his allegations.
"If you (Rahul Gandhi) wish to engage in a responsible discussion, if your concerns hold truth, substance, and logic, then come and discuss them inside Parliament. Let's face each other head-on! But you won't be able to handle the answers; as always, you will just run away," Shah said at a rally in Karnal, Haryana, as part of the BJP's 'Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy' campaign.
Gandhi responded by asking Shah to persuade the Prime Minister to participate in an open debate.
"Amit Shah ji, don't confuse Modi ji. Just convince him to have an open debate with me. Any platform, any time. Don't be afraid," he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, protests against the SIR exercise have also been reported outside the national capital. Abhijeet Dipke, an activist associated with the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), held a protest against the revision of electoral rolls at Jantar Mantar in Kochi.
Separately, the Election Commission on Friday issued fresh instructions to the Chief Electoral Officers of Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Nagaland, giving voters placed in the Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) category another opportunity to have their names included in the final electoral rolls.
(With inputs from ANI)