Ghost Voter Busters

A Congress claim that millions of voter IDs are fake provokes house to house surveys

- Rahul Noronha

On June 3, Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath, former chief minister Digvijaya Singh and poll campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia collectively complained to the Election Commission of India (ECI) that there were some 6 million “duplicate, false, illegal and invalid” names on Madhya Pradesh’s electoral rolls.

The leaders handed in 101 CDs bearing details of such voters in 101 assembly constituencies, drawing considerable media attention. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), curiously, had no response to the apparently serious charges. Cleverly acknowledging that the revision of electoral rolls is done under the EC’s supervision, the Congress leaders dared BJP leaders to join them in demanding a probe.