By Smritika Banerjee
The “vote chori”(vote theft) controversy has escalated significantly, with the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) accusing Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera of possessing two active voter identity cards. This allegation was made by BJP leaders, one of them being IT cell head Amit Malvya, immediately the day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was warned of a “hydrogen bomb” of revelations about alleged electoral irregularities.
The BJP shared photographs of voter lists and stated that Khera holds two separate Electoral Photo Card (EPIC) numbers, one of which is from the Jangpura Assembly constituency and the other from the New Delhi Assembly constituency. Both of these constituencies are located in the national capital, and also electoral law is violated with the possession of more than one voter ID.
Since then, The BJP has called for an investigation by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to determine if Khera has voted multiple times using these cards.
BJPs new charge is a part of broader offensive which has sought to counter the Congress’s recent electoral roll discrepancies campaign. The Congress had been raising concerns about alleged irregularities and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, particularly in Bihar, claiming that a large number of names were missing or incorrect. The BJP is now attempting to turn the tables, framing the Congress as the true perpetrator of “vote theft.”
Khera personally responded to the accusations during a press conference, although he placed the accusation on the Election Commission. He claimed to have moved in 2016 and to have taken proper measures to have his name struck from the voter list in his former constituency. He argued that the occurrence supported his party’s worries over the integrity of the election process and asked why his name was still present on the list, challenging the ECI to provide an explanation. In order to determine whether someone had voted in his name, he also insisted on seeing CCTV footage. Ahead of the next state and federal elections, the incident brings to light the intense political struggle being fought over electoral openness and the integrity of voter records.