ECI took ‘U-Turn’ on voter roll revision rules, says TMC; seeks ‘immediate clarification’

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday claimed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken a ‘U-turn’ following the party’s criticism of its alleged attempt to facilitate the BJP-led Centre’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) agenda through a “special intensive revision” of electoral rolls and sought immediate clarification on the issue.

According to the TMC, the ECI has now stated that documents proving birth and birthplace are no longer necessary, and a self-declaration will suffice.

TMC MP Saket Gokhale shared a news article on his social media platform highlighting this development. The report said that the ECI had issued a key clarification regarding the controversial voter verification drive in Bihar, confirming that proof of birth or birthplace would no longer be required.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, last Thursday, questioned the fresh electoral roll revision guidelines issued by the ECI ahead of Bihar Assembly polls scheduled this year.

She expressed her apprehensions that these guidelines would be worse than NRS if implemented.

She stated that the ECI was targeting voters born between July 1987 and December 2004, demanding documentary proof of citizenship as part of a “special intensive revision.” Calling the move “more dangerous than NRC,” Banerjee warned it could have serious implications for Indian democracy.

Alleging that the ECI was “acting like a stooge of the BJP”, Banerjee asked whether the move was a backdoor attempt to implement the NRC.

“This is now applicable in Bihar but will soon be extended to other states. It specifically targets Bengal and migrant workers. They are demanding the birth certificates of parents. How will poor people provide such documents? Is this not a disguised NRC? Doesn’t the youth have the right to vote?” she asked.

TMC, last Saturday, alleged that ECI was being misused by the BJP to implement the NRC through the back door after the saffron party in its internal assessment in Bengal found that they would not get more than 49 seats in the 2026 Assembly elections in the state.

The party MPs Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghose alleged that there was a desperate attempt to swing matters in their favour by misusing the ECI. TMC’s reaction came after the ECI called for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar and Bengal.

TMC already alleged that under this revision of the electoral roll, new and existing voters have to submit proof of birth and birthplace for those born before July 1987; proof of birth and birthplace for self and one parent for those born between July 1987 and December 2004; proof of birth and birthplace for self and both parents for those born after December 2004.

Posting on social media, Gokhale questioned whether the Election Commission of India would formally announce if it was scrapping the “special intensive revision”. He added that the Commission must also acknowledge the accuracy of the source-based news report.

Gokhale in a post on X stated: “Election Commission has been CAUGHT & EXPOSED. On Saturday, @AITCofficial did a press conference in Delhi about how the ECI is using the “special intensive revision” to delete voters & help the Modi Govt bring in the NRC through the back door. ECI allegedly makes a u-turn & says documents proving birth & birthplace NOT needed anymore” & just a self-declaration is sufficient.”

He questioned why is ECI was not saying this officially instead of through “sources” and if ECI was misleading people after the backlash & pressure from INDIA parties.

“Election Commission of India is urgently called upon to state whether this article published in @htTweets on Sunday 29th June is true. If yes, ECI MUST issue this “clarification” about voter list revision OFFICIALLY & ON RECORD immediately,” Gokhale stated.

The Bengal Chief minister in March this year had claimed that multiple voters, sometimes in different states, had the same electoral photo identity card (EPIC) number, alleging that this was evidence of voter fraud.

The ECI then clarified that “duplication in EPIC number does not imply duplicate or fake voters”.

Hours later, the TMC pointed to the ECI statement as an admission that there was duplication of EPIC numbers, adding that the poll body was engaging in a damage control exercise by claiming that this does not imply poll fraud.