India on Friday rejected US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s remarks on the country’s electoral process, describing them as “unwarranted and uninformed” and accusing her of interfering in the electoral practices of a fellow democracy.
Responding to a question during a bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the remarks undermined democracy itself.
“We find the remarks of the Congresswoman unwarranted and uninformed and tantamount to interfering in the electoral practices of a fellow democracy. This is an approach that undermines democracy itself,” Jaiswal said.
The response came after Jayapal, a Democrat representing Washington state, expressed concern over reports of names being removed from India’s electoral rolls. In a post on X, she said, “I am deeply concerned about the actions of the Indian government to purge 130 million people from the voting rolls.”
India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, had also rejected Jayapal’s remarks on Thursday, describing them as “unacceptable interference in India’s internal affairs”.
“The remarks by Rep. Jayapal on India's electoral and political processes are unacceptable interference in India's internal affairs,” Kwatra wrote on X.
He added that India was “a vibrant democracy with robust, independent constitutional institutions and a longstanding record of free and fair elections”, while offering to engage with Jayapal to address what he called her misconceptions.
Born in Chennai, Jayapal previously chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She has clashed with New Delhi in the past, including by moving a House resolution in 2019 calling for the lifting of communication restrictions in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India is conducting a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in multiple phases. The Commission has said lists identifying absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate voters were publicly displayed and shared with political parties. It has also stated that people whose names were deleted could apply for enrolment at any time.
(With inputs from ANI)