New Delhi: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday targeted Congress over its allegations of “vote chori”, saying that senior advocate and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal had himself explained in Parliament how names are deleted from electoral rolls.
Rijiju made the remarks in a post on X and shared a video of Sibal addressing the House when he was the Union Law Minister. Calling Sibal’s old remarks significant, Rijiju said that they had exposed what he described as the “bogus vote chori drama” of the Congress party.
In his post, Rijiju said: “I don’t like Kapil Sibal as he is always found to be protecting the corrupt, extremists & anti-social elements. For the first time, I like him because he has exposed the bogus vote chori drama of Congress party through his old speech in Parliament as Law Minister!!”
Rijiju’s post came amid the ongoing political confrontation between the BJP and Congress over allegations concerning electoral rolls and the deletion of voters’ names.
In the video shared by Rijiju, Sibal, while addressing the House, explained the circumstances under which names could be deleted from electoral rolls.
“I want to clarify that the deletion of names comes under three categories. For example, if a person is shifted from one Assembly constituency to another, his name would be deleted. He will still be there, but he would be an elector in another Assembly constituency. Or his name is replicated; he may shift his residence, but the name on the electoral rolls remains. Then one of them has to be cancelled. And the third is whether he expires. These are the three categories under which names are deleted. They are, otherwise, also entitled to go to the electoral officers and ask for registration,” Sibal said in the video.
He further explained the process available to individuals whose names may have been removed from the electoral rolls.
“Individuals whose names have been wrongly deleted, they can go to the election officer and ask them to register their names…,” he added.
Rijiju highlighted Sibal’s remarks to question Congress’ allegations regarding voter deletions.
By sharing the former Law Minister’s own explanation from Parliament, Rijiju sought to argue that deletion of names from electoral rolls is subject to established categories and that individuals whose names are wrongly deleted have the option of approaching election officials for registration.
The exchange comes against the backdrop of the Opposition’s continuing criticism of the Election Commission and its demand for greater transparency in the electoral process.
(IANS)
