New Delhi: Put under pressure by Opposition parties over the special intensive revision (SIR) in Bihar and charges of ‘vote theft’, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Saturday that political parties should have raised alleged errors in electoral rolls during the claims and objections period of past elections.
ECI further said that the poll body shares electoral rolls with parties before any election, so that error, “if genuine”, could be corrected before voting takes place.
“Recently, some Political Parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in the Electoral Rolls, including those prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims and Objections period of that phase, which is precisely the objective behind sharing the Electoral Rolls with all Political Parties and the Candidates,” ECI said in a statement.
In a 10-point statement, the ECI clarified that had such issues been flagged during the stipulated time through the right channels, they could have been examined and, if genuine, corrected by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) before the elections.
Welcoming the scrutiny of electoral rolls by political parties, the Election Commission said: “It will help SDMS/EROS to remove the errors and purify the Electoral Rolls, which has always been the objective of ECI.”
First press conference after Bihar SIR
The poll body will hold a press conference on Sunday afternoon, its first after the SIR exercise in Bihar.
“The Election Commission of India shall be holding a Press Conference at 3:00 PM tomorrow, i.e. Sunday, August 17, 2025, at National Media Centre, Raisina Road, New Delhi,” ECI stated.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim, with evidence, during a recent press conference, has stirred a hornet’s nest. Using data from Mahadevapura Assembly seat in Bengaluru Central, he accused the Election Commission of working in collusion with the BJP and “stealing elections”.
ECI dismissed Rahul’s allegations and asked the Leader of Opposition to sign an affidavit to register a formal complaint, but the Congress MP said he had already sworn an oath to the Constitution of India.