The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has questioned the discrepancy between Nagaland’s pre-revision electoral rolls and the number of enumeration forms received during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), demanding accountability from Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities.
The issue was raised at a press conference at Congress Bhavan, Kohima, on Tuesday under the Congress campaign “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao”. The press conference was addressed by AICC observer for Nagaland Pranav Shagotra, Lok Sabha MP, S Supongmeren Jamir and NPCC working president ,Khriedi Theunuo.
Shagotra alleged that voter-list manipulation and deletion of names were taking place with the involvement of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had repeatedly sought access to electoral rolls but had not received the information in the form required by the party.
Referring to figures and evidence presented by Gandhi, Shagotra questioned how deceased persons could continue to appear on electoral rolls and how the same voter could be registered at multiple places. He demanded the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner over the alleged irregularities.
He said the Congress would conduct visits to every district to investigate the deletion of voters’ names and determine the number of people affected. He also announced a major protest rally on November 1, which would be attended by Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other opposition leaders.
Download Nagaland Tribune app on Google Play
Shagotra urged people to raise their voices against the alleged electoral irregularities, stating that public participation was crucial to ensuring good governance. He also accused the ruling government of creating communal divisions in the name of religion.
On the electoral roll figures, Supongmeren said the total number of voters stood at 1,357,208, while records relating to 1,199,456 voters had been received by the Election Commission, leaving a gap of 157,752 entries.
He explained that the entries had reportedly been classified into categories such as untraceable voters, permanently shifted voters, deceased persons, voters already enrolled and other classifications. The Congress, he said, was scrutinising these categories to determine whether the deletions and classifications were justified.
Supongmeren added that political parties had appointed Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to monitor the exercise, while another round of revision was ongoing. He said observers were also visiting various areas and maintained that the Congress was committed to ensuring justice for every voter.
Meanwhile, Theunuo referred to a communication issued by the state election authorities on October 12, stating that no eligible voter would be excluded from the electoral rolls. He appealed to all eligible citizens to come forward and enrol their names.
He further stated that the Election Commission had instructed Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to conduct house-to-house visits to identify eligible voters and ensure their inclusion in the electoral rolls.
