BHOPAL: State
Congress on Tuesday met Chief Election Commissioner
OP Rawat with a seven-point memorandum in which the party in Opposition asked for re-verification of voters' list before the assembly polls. "Just before the visit of the CEC, massive irregularities have been unearthed with nearly 7 lakh ineligible voters during the recent verification of electoral rolls between March 15 and April 7," said PCC spokesman Ravi Saxena.
"In every assembly constituency there are about 70,000 to 80,000 fake voters. Like in Narela constituency in Bhopal, the total number of voters in the 2013 assembly elections was around two lakh. Now it has become three lakh. How is that possible that in five years, one lakh new voters are added in a single assembly seat?" Saxena argued. "This is not just the case of one constituency but throughout the state. Democracy is being openly challenged and therefore, there needs to be a re-verification of the voters' list."
A delegation of state Congress leaders including Chandrika Prasad Dwivedi, Mahendra Singh Chouhan, JP Dhanopia, Ravi Saxena, Rajeev Singh, Ashok Singh and others went to meet CEC OP Rawat who was in the state capital on Monday. The CEC held meetings with representatives of all parties and heard their complaints and suggestions.
Congress party leaders argued that between the last assembly elections and today, number of voters in
Madhya Pradesh has grown by nearly 45 lakh which needs to be verified and probed. "The Congress party has asked for certificates after every round of counting so that tabulation cannot be manipulated," Ravi Saxena said. Usually after counting is completed, the winning candidate is given a certificate of victory. But Congress party demanded that
Election Commission issue an official certificate after every round of counting so numbers cannot be manipulated.
It was also suggested that Aadhaar card should be linked to voter ID to check fake voting. Congress leaders also asked the CEC to implement the VVPAT system in such a way that rural voters can check and verify their mandate. "We have said that in rural areas, the VVPAT slip should be handed over to the voter so after verification it can be dropped in the box," Ravi Saxena said. "This will ensure that the votes in the rural areas are safeguarded from any fraud."
