The Congress on Sunday accused the Election Commission of withholding information about the ECINET software used during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, news agency PTI reported.
The party alleged that the information was being withheld because it would reveal what it called “massive, centralised manipulation” during the exercise. It also reiterated its demand for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the immediate suspension of the SIR.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh shared a media report claiming that the Election Commission of India had declined to disclose the name and version of the software used to identify errors and anomalies in voter rolls during the SIR.
According to the report, the poll body said the information concerned “commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property” and was exempt from disclosure under the Right to Information Act.
In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that the Election Commission continued to “hide” information about the ECINET software, which he claimed was at the “heart of the disastrous SIR” and had been used to centralise the manipulation of electoral rolls.
“Today, a leading national daily revealed that the ECI has refused to provide information on the software being used in the SIR in its response to a Right to Information (RTI) application. Using flimsy excuses, the ECI has refused to name the software being used in the SIR, or confirm whether AI is being used and what safeguards are in place,” Ramesh said, according to PTI.
He said the lack of transparency surrounding the ECINET software and the use of artificial intelligence had damaged citizens’ confidence in the entire process.
Ramesh alleged that the Election Commission was repeatedly refusing to provide the information because it would reveal the extent of what he described as massive and centralised manipulation.
He asked why Indians had learnt through disclosures by Tata Consultancy Services that the company had developed the ECINET software, and why the Election Commission had not disclosed this transparently. He also questioned why the poll body had repeatedly denied the use of artificial intelligence in the SIR and electoral roll revision when, according to him, it was being used.
Ramesh said the ECINET software and the Election Commission’s IT Division were the focus of several objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. He added that the complaints had reached the Department of Personnel and Training, which comes under the prime minister.
“The public knows that massive manipulation has taken place. Gyanesh Kumar must go. The SIR must be suspended forthwith,” Ramesh said.
His remarks came amid a row after The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over the previous 10 months to decisions and orders, mostly concerning the SIR process.
The Election Commission has said that differing views and observations are part of deliberations in any institution, and that all its orders have full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
The Congress has, therefore, renewed its demand for greater transparency over the ECINET software, the suspension of the SIR and the removal of the chief election commissioner, while the poll body has maintained that its decisions follow the law and established procedures.
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