Nothing can save CEC Gyanesh Kumar; ECI's IT system has to be thoroughly revamped: Congress

New Delhi, October 18 (IANS): Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of undermining public trust by allegedly withholding searchable electoral rolls from political parties for eight years, claiming that the poll body’s recent decision to provide voter lists in searchable format followed sustained pressure from the Opposition over alleged ‘vote chori’.In a post on X, Ramesh said the Congress and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had repeatedly demanded searchable electoral rolls over the past two years, but the ECI had consistently rejected their demand.“The demand was repeatedly refused by the ECI -- which stopped providing searchable voter rolls in 2018 when the Congress found lakhs of bogus voters in Madhya Pradesh. The demand was denied for 8 years to enable Vote Chori,” Ramesh said.He further asserted that the ECI issued an order on October 15, allowing political parties to access electoral rolls in searchable format for the Special Summary Revision (SSR), which has resumed after a gap of two years in 17 states and UTs. "This is because the whole nation is on the streets against the Vote Chors," he said.The Congress leader alleged that the government and the poll body had repeatedly changed their approach whenever allegations of electoral irregularities surfaced.“Every time Vote Chori is caught, the Modi Govt adopts a new tactic: stopping readable voter rolls, fake voter additions, SIR. But not this time,” Ramesh said.Mounting his attack on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, Ramesh demanded his resignation and called for a comprehensive overhaul of the poll body.“Nothing can save the CEC Gyanesh Kumar who, acting on the instructions of the PM and the HM, has destroyed public trust and confidence in the ECI. He simply has to go. But that alone will not be enough. The ECI itself along with its IT system has to be thoroughly revamped. The SIR, that has put the Constitutional right to vote for over 13 crore Indians at risk, has to be suspended forthwith,” he added.The Congress, along with other Opposition parties, is protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and raising questions over the Election Commission’s functioning.Opposition leaders have alleged that the exercise could threaten eligible voters’ rights, while the poll body has maintained that the revision process is intended to update electoral rolls.The controversy has also led to protests by Opposition leaders against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, with the INDIA bloc demanding his resignation.