Congress claims 60 lakh fake voters included in MP electoral rolls, EC orders probe

The Congress on Sunday accused the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh of electoral misconduct by including the names of 60 lakh "fake voters" in the voters' list and requested the Election Commission (EC) to remove all such entries from the electoral rolls of the 230 Assembly constituencies in the state.

The EC has ordered the constitution of a team for Bhopal and Narmadapuram (Hoshangabad) each, who will look into the alleged errors in the Madhya Pradesh electoral rolls.The final report will be submitted to EC by June 7.

The EC teams will visit the Narela, Bhojpur, Seoni-Malwa and Hoshangabad assembly seats to ascertain how the discrepancies occurred.

After reaching the state tomorrow, the teams would also fix responsibility for multiple and fake entries, EC said

Congress on Sunday alleged irregularities in voter rolls in Madhya Pradesh and claimed that there are approximately 60 Lakh fake voters registered in the voting list of the state.

Madhya Pradesh Congress Chief Kamal Nath alleged that 60 lakh fake voters were deliberately registered in the state's voter list.

"We have given proof to the EC as regards how one voter has been enlisted in different constituencies with the same name, address and father's name. This cannot be any mistake, it has been done deliberately by the present Madhya Pradesh government," Nath told reporters after meeting the EC officials.

The Congress leaders also requested the EC for a special monitoring mechanism to remove all the "multiple" and "demographically similar" entries and urged the poll panel to inform all the national political parties on a weekly basis about the status of identification of such voters at least at the district level.

Demanding strict action against the returning officers for their alleged involvement in coming up with such "fraudulent" electoral rolls, the Congress leaders also said the EC should not deploy them on poll duty in the future.

"The officers, who produce the second corrected list, should also give an affidavit or a certificate, along with the correct list," Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

The leaders also pointed out that a 40-per cent rise in the number of voters in the state, as against a 24-per cent rise in the population, was "inconceivable and incalculable" and requested the EC to look into the matter.

In February this year, the Congress party had complained to the EC about discrepancies in Madhya Pradesh's voters' list and asked it to take necessary steps for ensuring free and fair elections.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)