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Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi while speaking in the Lok Sabha stated that the House needs to discuss the issue of voters list.
He said, "Question is being raised on the voter list in every states. In Maharashtra, questions were raised on black and white voter list. The entire opposition is just saying that there should be a discussion on the voter's list." Earlier, TMC's Saugata Roy said Mamata Banerjee had shown the same EPIC numbers in the voters list in Haryana, West Bengal. "This shows serious flaws, pointed out earlier with regard to Maharashtra, Haryana. They are preparing for a jump in the Bengal, Assam polls next year. Total voter list should be totally revised," he said, adding that ECI should reply on its mistakes. Speaking to ANI, AAP MP Sanjay Singh accused the Election Commission and the central government of misusing the government machinery to make the list of fake voters. He went to say that they have used the same thing in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and is now preparing for the same in West Bengal. "Election Commission and central govt, that is the party in power, together, by misusing government machinery, fake voters are being made. They did that in Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi, now they have started the same in Bengal as well...if the election process is not fair...Only one party will keep coming to power and they will do corruption as well..." Singh stated. On March 6, a delegation of the Trinamool Congress met Election Commission officials in Kolkata regarding their complaints about the same Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number. After the meeting, West Bengal Minister, and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim told the reporters that every voter should have a unique ID number and demanded a physical verification to ensure this. "Every voter should have a unique ID number; there should be physical verification, and people from outside should not have a voting right here," Hakim told ANI. Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee formed a committee to check the alleged irregularities in the voters' list in every district of West Bengal. She alleged that the BJP had added fake voters to the voters' list to manipulate elections in Maharashtra and Delhi, and they were trying the same trick in West Bengal. "Sitting in the Election Commissioner's office, they have created a fake voter's list online, and in every district of West Bengal, fake voters have been added. Using this trick, they have won elections in Delhi and Maharashtra. The opposition in Maharashtra could not find out these facts. Most of the fake voters are from Haryana and Gujarat. BJP is manipulating voters list with the blessing of EC, Bengal's culture gave rise to independence," Banerjee said earlier this week. However, ECI on March 2 clarified that having the same Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number doesn't mean there are duplicate or fake voters. The ECI's clarification comes after concerns were raised on social media and in media reports about electors in different states having identical EPIC numbers. "Irrespective of the EPIC number, any elector can cast a vote only at their designated polling station in their respective Constituency in their State/UT where they are enrolled in the electoral roll and nowhere else." ECI clarified in an official statement. This issue arose because different states and union territories used the same alphanumeric series for EPIC numbers before switching to the ERONET platform. "The allotment of identical EPIC number/series to some electors from different States/UTs was due to a decentralized and manual mechanism being followed prior to shifting of the electoral roll database of all States/UTs to the ERONET platform. This resulted in certain State/UT CEO offices using the same EPIC alphanumeric series and leaving a scope for the possibility of duplicate EPIC numbers being allotted to electors in different Assembly Constituencies in different States/UTs," the statement read. (ANI)
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