New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has refuted questions raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Earlier, on June 12, the ECI had written a letter to Gandhi, referencing an article published in a leading media outlet dated June 7, 2025.

In its communication, the ECI on its official X handle wrote: “The entire election process is conducted in a decentralized manner at the Assembly constituency level, involving more than 1,00,186 Booth Level Officers (BLOs), 288 Electoral Registration Officers, 139 General Observers, 41 Police Observers, 71 Expenditure Observers, and 288 Returning Officers appointed by the Commission. Additionally, 1,08,026 booth-level agents were appointed by national and state political parties, including 28,241 from the Indian National Congress (INC) across the state of Maharashtra.”

The Commission has dismissed all allegations posed by Gandhi regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The exercise has come under scrutiny following claims of procedural lapses, arbitrary documentation standards, and the potential disenfranchisement of millions of voters.

The ECI said during preparation of electoral roll for Lok Sabha 2024, both the drafts and final electoral list were shared with the political parties, including INC and were appealable under section 24 of the people’s representation Act 1950.

Hardly any appeal were filed across all 36 states and Union territories by INC.

The ECI has further said only 8 election petitions were filed by losing candidate of the INC under section 80 of RP Act 1951.

The ECI further said: “Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly made unsubstantiated and misleading allegation including baseless claims of ‘Vote Chori’, and has threatened lakhs and lakhs of hardworking election officials across the country. It appears that these unfounded allegations are intended to discredit their impartial and transparent hard work, attempt to exert undue pressure on the election machinery, and even threaten them without even filing an appeal against electoral roll.”

Launched on June 24, 2025, the SIR targets individuals whose names were not present in the 2003 electoral rolls.

Approximately 2.9 crore voters—out of Bihar’s 7.8 crore registered electorate—have been asked to submit proof of citizenship to remain on the rolls. The Commission has excluded Aadhaar as standalone proof of citizenship, citing its vulnerability to forgery.

In response, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) filed a rejoinder in the Supreme Court, calling the exclusion “patently absurd” and arguing that all 11 accepted documents are equally susceptible to falsification.

ADR also raised concerns about the lack of a defined verification procedure and the excessive workload assigned to Electoral Registration Officers, each reportedly responsible for over 3 lakh forms.

Opposition parties have intensified their criticism of the exercise.

The Trinamool Congress released images of residential certificates allegedly issued to a dog named “Dog Babu” and a woman named “Sonalika Tractor,” whose parents were listed as “Sawraj Taractor” and “Car Devi”.

The party claims such documents were accepted as valid proof during the revision process.

Trinamool MP Sagarika Ghose called the exercise a threat to democratic integrity and demanded a parliamentary debate.

She alleged that while the revision is underway in Bihar, its political implications may extend to West Bengal.

In its July 10 directive, the Supreme Court urged the Election Commission to consider Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration cards as valid documents “in the interest of justice”.

–IANS

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