Kohima (Nagaland) [India], October 27 (ANI): All India Congress Committee (AICC) Observer for Nagaland, Pranav Shagotra, on Tuesday has alleged discrepancies in electoral rolls across five districts of the state, claiming that 38,234 voters have been identified as deleted or untraced in the districts assigned to him.
Addressing a press conference organised by the Communication Department of the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) at Congress Bhavan, Kohima, Shagotra said he was assigned to oversee Mokokchung, Zunheboto, Wokha, Longleng and Tuensang as part of the Congress party’s nationwide exercise to examine voter list discrepancies.
Citing figures from the electoral rolls, Shagotra stated that Mokokchung had 7,900 untraced voters out of 1,56,302 electors; Zunheboto had 11,530 out of 1,04,277; Wokha had 6,547 out of 1,88,018; Longleng had 3,225 out of 24,024; and Tuensang had 9,032 out of 80,400 electors.
He alleged that discrepancies in electoral rolls could affect election outcomes, particularly in constituencies where victory margins were narrow. He also accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of working in coordination with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s campaign on alleged voter list irregularities, Shagotra said the Congress had raised concerns over the denial of electronic voter lists, duplicate registrations, deceased persons remaining on electoral rolls and living voters being incorrectly marked as dead.
He said the party had organised protests at state and district levels before expanding the campaign nationwide and pursuing the matter through legal proceedings to seek access to electronic voter lists. He said, around 208 observers had been deployed across the country to examine discrepancies and submit reports to the party leadership.
Shagotra said the findings from Nagaland would be compiled and submitted to the party’s central leadership after the district-level exercise. He added that he would visit the districts assigned to him under the programme organised by the NPCC president to gather information and verify the reported discrepancies.
Calling for accountability in the electoral process, Shagotra demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the establishment of a new Election Commission of India to ensure free and fair elections.
He said the Congress would hold a rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on November 1, which would be addressed by Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders. The party would outline the next phase of its campaign at the rally, he added.
Meanwhile, NPCC president and Lok Sabha MP S. Supongmeren Jamir said the party had raised concerns over a difference of 1,57,752 between Nagaland’s total electorate of 13,57,208 and the 11,99,456 enumeration forms received by the Election Department.
Jamir said the discrepancy was attributed to several categories, including untraceable voters, permanently shifted voters, deceased voters, duplicate entries and other cases.
He stated that the Congress had discussed the matter with the Election Commission, which had assured the party that there had been no intentional deletion or manipulation. However, he said the Commission was yet to provide its final findings on the discrepancies.
According to Jamir, some names had been removed through computerised processes because of duplicate entries, while migration and difficulties in tracing voters were among the other possible reasons. He said the Election Department was examining the discrepancies and that another round of house-to-house verification would be conducted to rectify the electoral rolls.
Jamir added that Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties would participate in the verification process as part of the exercise to ensure the accuracy of electoral rolls.
He also referred to the scale of reported voter deletions nationally, citing figures presented by the Congress, and said party observers were gathering information to establish the reasons behind the discrepancies and seek corrective action.
He called for accurate electoral rolls and stressed the need to safeguard voters’ rights and ensure free and fair elections, and urged the media to highlight the issue and said the Congress would continue its campaign until the discrepancies were addressed. (ANI)
Nagaland Congress flags over 38,000 untraced voters in five districts, seeks electoral roll review
