Election Commission asks poll machinery in states to hold regular interactions with parties

New Delhi: Amid allegations of a cover-up on its part over electors having duplicate voter ID card numbers, the EC 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 Trinamool Congress (TMC) that voters in different states had identical voter card numbers.

On Sunday, the Election Commission (EC) had said it would rectify the issue and also update its technology-driven platform.

The poll authority had asserted that duplicate numbers did not necessarily imply fake voters.

While the Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number of some voters “may be identical”, the other details -- including demographic, Assembly constituency and polling booth -- are different, it had said.

The TMC has dismissed the EC’s clarifications on duplicate voter ID numbers as a “cover-up” and cited the poll panel’s own guidelines to assert that two cards could not have the same number.

The ruling party in West Bengal alleged a scam in issuing duplicate voter ID numbers and shared excerpts from the Handbook For Electoral Registration Officers to counter the poll panel’s clarifications.

On the first day of the conference, the state poll officials were asked to file issue-wise action-taken reports by March 31.

This is the first such conference to be held since Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge as chief election commissioner.

In his address, Kumar exhorted the officials to work transparently and fulfil all statutory obligations diligently and according to the existing legal framework.

He directed the officials to be approachable and responsive to the political parties.

All party meetings at statutory levels should be held regularly to resolve any

issues within the existing statutory framework by the competent authority concerned, Kumar said.