New Delhi: Stepping up the pressure on the Election Commission of India on the duplicate voter identity numbers controversy, the Trinamul Congress on Tuesday dismissed the poll body’s clarifications as a “cover-up” and cited its own guidelines to assert that two cards cannot have identical numbers.Calling the EC a “caged bird”, the party urged the EC to “come clean” and disclose how many EPIC cards are currently active and how many of those bear the same number. The TMC also sought an “impartial investigation” to be conducted “on this duplicate voter ID scam”.“The ECI is the biggest fraud, just like the ED and the CBI. The Supreme Court once called the CBI a ‘caged parrot’, the ECI is also a caged bird… The BJP can do anything to win an election if they feel that they are going to lose. This cannot happen without EC officials being involved,” said TMC Lok Sabha MP Kirti Azad.A day after threatening the EC that it would expose it further, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale on Tuesday shared on X excerpts from the “Handbook For Electoral Registration Officers” to counter the ECs clarifications issued Sunday on the issue, which was first raised by TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.New update on ECI Voter ID FRAUD 👇Yesterday, @AITCOfficial had given ECI 24 hours to admit and accept their blunder on the duplicate voter ID fraud issue. Clearly the ECI, which has been exposed, wants to brazen it out. The “clarification” given by ECI (on a Sunday) in… pic.twitter.com/djnfWodk83— Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) March 4, 2025 “Yesterday, the All India Trinamul Congress (TMC) had given the Election Commission of India 24 hours to admit and accept their blunder on the duplicate voter ID fraud issue… Clearly the ECI, which has been exposed, wants to brazen it out. The ‘clarification’ given by the ECI (on a Sunday) in response to CM Mamata Banerjee is actually a cover-up. They have admitted there’s something wrong but are refusing to accept it. The false clarification given by ECI contradicts their own rules and guidelines. Therefore, here are some new details as promised”, Mr Gokhale said.Countering the ECI point wise, Mr Gokhale wrote that the ECI’s first claim that EPIC with the same number were issued to multiple voters due to certain states using the same alphanumeric series is wrong and the fact is that EPIC card numbers are an alphanumeric sequence of 3 letters and 7 digits.“The ECI handbook clearly states that the 3 letters, known as a Functional Unique Serial Number (FUSN) are different for EVERY Assembly constituency. Therefore, it is impossible for voters in two different Assembly constituencies (even in the same state) to have the same first 3 letters on their EPIC. How is it then that the same EPIC numbers as voters in West Bengal have been allotted to random people in Haryana, Gujarat, and other states?” said Mr Gokhale.Dismissing the ECI’s second claim that even with two people having the same EPIC number, they can only vote in their respective constituency where they are enrolled, the TMC MP said in photo electoral rolls, the elector is linked to his/her photo by the EPIC number.Therefore, when a voter in Bengal goes to cast their vote, their photo on the electoral roll will be different if the same EPIC number has been allotted to a person in another state. This will lead to refusal of voting due to a photo mismatch. By allotting same EPIC numbers in different states, voting can be denied to those who are likely to vote for non-BJP parties due to photo mismatch,” he added.Countering the ECI’s third claim that the same EPIC numbers were issued to different people in various due to duplication of alphanumeric codes and it does not make a difference, Mr Gokhale said ECI rules mandate that the software used for issuing EPIC keeps a track of every used and unused number to ensure that same EPIC is not allotted to multiple people. “Also, EPIC number links the details of voters with their photo and it is considered to be a permanent unique ID. Therefore, it is impossible that any “error” can lead to the same EPIC numbers being allotted to multiple people in different states. Also, since EPIC number is linked to voter details, a duplicate EPIC number will lead to denial of voting,” he added.“This clearly reeks of a conspiracy to conduct voter suppression in favor of the BJP where voters in non-BJP areas are being targeted by issuing their EPIC numbers to people in other states. It raises serious questions about the actions of the ECI especially considering that the election commissioners are now appointed by the Modi government by majority on a 3- member panel where 2 members are the PM and Amit Shah. If ECI is compromised on behalf of the BJP, there is zero possibility of elections being free and fair.Meanwhile, the ECI on Tuesday directed its poll machinery in states to hold regular meetings with political parties and resolve issues according to procedure. The directions came at a conference of state poll officials amid allegations by the TMC that voters in different states had identical voter card numbers. The state poll officials were asked to file issue-wise action-taken reports by March 31.
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