TMC's Mahua Moitra Accuses Election Commission of Voter Exclusion Tactics
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India on Friday, accusing the constitutional body of playing a "dirty game" aimed at excluding voters from the electoral rolls. Her comments came hours after her party approached the Supreme Court regarding the EC's alleged directive to judicial officers.
Allegations of Behind-the-Scenes Manipulation
"We will fight EC's dirty game till the end," declared Moitra, emphasizing her party's resolve to challenge what she described as systematic voter suppression. "People should know what the EC is trying to do behind their back. We fought against this," she stated, urging public awareness about the commission's actions.
The controversy centers on the EC's reported instruction to judicial officers not to accept Aadhaar cards as valid identity proofs in what are termed "linkage cases." This move, according to the TMC, directly contradicts earlier assurances given during the Summary Revision of electoral rolls.
The Core of the Dispute: Voter List Revisions
Explaining the party's opposition, Moitra detailed the sequence of events that has sparked outrage. "All Bengal voters are aware that when, on Dec 16, the SIR draft list was published, 1.3 crore people who were mapped with the 2002 rolls were clubbed under logical discrepancy and made to stand in queues and harassed in the name of SIR hearings," she recounted, highlighting the initial inconvenience faced by millions.
During these hearings, Electoral Registration Officers were allegedly instructed by the EC that individuals mapped with the 2002 SIR rolls would only need to produce their Aadhaar card to have their names included on the voter list. "Based on this, such documents were provided during the SIR hearings. Around 80% of the people did this," Moitra noted, underscoring the widespread reliance on this directive.
Sudden Policy Shift Alleged
The situation took a dramatic turn just a day before Moitra's statement. "A day before yesterday, when the EC was imparting training to the judicial officers, page 10 of their training manual said that, in linkage cases, Aadhaar was unacceptable," she alleged. This abrupt change in policy, according to the TMC MP, appears designed to disenfranchise voters who had previously complied with the EC's own guidelines.
"This was only an attempt to exclude mapped voters," Moitra asserted, framing the EC's actions as a deliberate strategy to reduce voter participation. The allegation raises serious questions about the consistency and transparency of the election body's procedures, particularly in a state with a history of heated political contests.
The Trinamool Congress's decision to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court indicates the legal and political stakes involved. As the party prepares for a protracted battle, the controversy underscores the ongoing tensions between political entities and independent constitutional authorities over electoral integrity and voter rights.
