Opposition's fresh attack on EC over report of valid Goa voters left off final roll
The Opposition on Thursday launched a fresh round of attacks on the Election Commission after a report claimed 97 voters in Goa, who were found eligible by ground-level officers, were nevertheless left out of the final electoral roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Directly attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the report, the Congress alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had "hijacked the entire system" at the behest of the Prime Minister and was "carrying out anti-national acts". Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said it proves that the "election process has been thoroughly compromised and vitiated" and reiterated the partyβs demand for Kumarβs resignation.
An Indian Express report alleged that 97 Goa voters who were found eligible for inclusion in the 2026 final electoral roll by local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) were left out because the Election Commission's centralised ECINet system, controlled by its IT division in Delhi, did not allow the EROs to reverse earlier deletion decisions.
Despite the Goa Chief Electoral Officer, Sanjay Goel, sending eight emails in seven days seeking a rollback facility, and the Commission's Deputy Election Commissioner directing the IT division to enable the correction, the facility was allegedly not provided before the final roll was published.
However, CEO Goel refused to comment on India Today TV's questions about the deleted voters, saying he had no information about the matter. "I have no information about the matter. I will check my report and get back," he said.
The development comes amid a massive row over another report that the two Election Commissioners had consistently raised objections to decisions taken under CEO Gyanesh Kumar, including those related to the SIR.
Launching a direct attack at the Prime Minister over the matter, Congess alleged that "Narendra Modi's darling Gyanesh Kumar is strangling democracy".
"The very Gyanesh Kumar who makes grand proclamations about the right to vote is the one snatching away voters' rights. At Narendra Modi's behest, Gyanesh Kumar has hijacked the entire system and is carrying out anti-national acts like 'vote theft,'" the party wrote on X.
Jairam Ramesh pointed out that under the Representation of the People Act, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have statutory authority over electoral rolls. He alleged that in Goa, "in an illegal and centralising move, EROs' access to the ECINet software was restricted."
The Opposition has been questioning the centralised control of the electoral-roll software, alleging that it overrides decisions taken by statutory officials at the ground level and can result in eligible voters being excluded despite being cleared through the process mandated by the Supreme Court.
"Each new piece of evidence further confirms what the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has been saying for almost two years, ever since the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly election results were out. The election process has been thoroughly compromised and vitiated. This is Gyanesh Kumar implementing the Method of Disenfranchising Indians (MODI)," Ramesh added.
Calling the report an "extremely serious" one, senior Congress leader Shahi Tharoor alleged "it involves depriving Indian citizens of their constitutional rights".
"Political chicanery is bad enough, but inhumane conduct is unconscionable. The Election Commission owes an apology to the affected citizens and indeed to the nation. Resignation is a minimal demand; rescinding this disastrous software and undoing the harm it has caused is now indispensable," Tharoor wrote on X.
The new report has emerged amid a wider political controversy over the functioning of the poll panel and reported differences among the three Election Commissioners over the handling of electoral rolls, voter deletions and the Commission's centralised digital systems.
A massive political storm erupted on Wednesday after another Indian Express report alleged that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected at least 14 times in 10 months to decisions taken under CEO Gyanesh Kumar, raising concerns over changes to voter-registration forms, deletion of names and the increasing centralisation of electoral-roll software.
They allegedly claimed that key decisions were taken without their knowledge and warned that restricting ground-level Electoral Registration Officersβ access to the system could override their statutory authority.
However, the Election Commission, in a statement, sought to dispute the report, saying differences of opinion are normal among the Commissioners and that all decisions, including the SIR, were taken unanimously.- Ends(With inputs from Sahil Joshi)Published By: Ajmal Published On: Sep 24, 2026 12:33 ISTAlso Read | Just Owaisi opposed as Lok Sabha passed CEC-selection law. Where was rest of Opposition?
