Even as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to embark on a 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' across poll-bound Bihar on Sunday, the Election Commission (EC) on Saturday came down heavily on these questioning its credibility saying it seems that some political parties did not examine the electoral rolls at the "appropriate time" to point out errors to the poll machinery and noted that it welcomes a scrutiny of the document to help its officials remove flaws.
The statement comes a day before the EC is set to hold a press conference to address the allegations of vote theft" levelled by Gandhi and the protest by opposition parties over the intensive electoral roll revision in Bihar. Gandhi has repeatedly accused the poll panel of voter-data fudging and alleged that there was "vote theft" in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana. The commission has asked the Congress leader to submit the names of those he claims have been wrongfully added or removed from the voters' list, along with a signed declaration.
Election Commission of India says, "Recently, some Political Parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in the Electoral Rolls, including those prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims… pic.twitter.com/0Q2e9brBES
— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2025
EC, in a sharply-worded 10-point statement, said the period for raising claims and objections after the draft voters' list is published is the appropriate time for parties to flag flaws.
"It seems that some political parties and their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) did not examine the electoral rolls at the appropriate time and did not point out errors, if any...," it said.
The EC noted that recently, some political parties and individuals raised issues about errors in the electoral rolls, including the electoral rolls prepared in the past.
The appropriate time, it said, to raise any issue with the electoral rolls would have been during the "Claims and Objections" period, the poll panel observed.
"... which is precisely the objective behind sharing the electoral rolls with all political parties and the candidates. Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned electoral registration officer to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those elections," the poll panel added.
The EC said it continues to welcome a scrutiny of the electoral rolls by political parties and any elector.
"It will help EROs to remove the errors and purify the electoral rolls which has always been the objective of EC," it said.
Utmost transparency is the hallmark of Electoral Roll preparation as per law, rules and guidelines, the EC said.
