BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 11th July 2025: In a scathing critique of India’s electoral integrity, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Asish Kumar Saha on Friday raised serious allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing it of partiality and collusion with the ruling BJP government to manipulate election outcomes.
In a press communiqué on Friday, Saha charged that since 2014, “questions have repeatedly emerged from opposition parties and citizens regarding the neutrality of the Election Commission during state assembly elections.” He alleged misuse of administrative machinery, hate-driven speeches by top BJP leaders, religious polarization, and rampant circulation of black money in clear violation of election codes.
Citing a 2024 survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Saha noted, “72 percent of people no longer trust the ECI as a fair institution.” He described this erosion of credibility as a direct consequence of the Modi government’s November 2023 move to alter the EC’s composition, bypassing a Supreme Court mandate and excluding the Chief Justice from the selection committee.
He stated, “In at least 79 Lok Sabha seats, the voting results did not reflect public will. Independent surveys revealed numerical inconsistencies, with post-5 PM vote surges swinging results in BJP’s favor.”
In Maharashtra, Saha alleged that over 40 lakh voters were artificially added to the rolls post Lok Sabha elections. “The EC failed to act despite concrete proof of returning officers behaving with bias in BJP-ruled states like UP, Gujarat, Assam, and Haryana,” he said.
On the issue of rejected minority and Dalit votes, Saha called it a “deliberate strategy to suppress marginalized voices.”
Referring to the current controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Bihar, Saha said, “The NDA government plans to disenfranchise nearly 4.5 crore voters under the guise of voter list revision, demanding birth certificates while rejecting other valid ID proofs.” He questioned the timing and feasibility of such an exercise, calling it “a blatant attempt to rig the Bihar elections.”
Saha further warned that similar SIR efforts may be imposed in Tripura, stating, “This is not about voter list accuracy. It’s about removing anti-BJP voters—particularly the most vulnerable—from the rolls.”
He added, “We urge grassroots Congress workers to form robust BLA teams and booth committees to safeguard democracy. What we are seeing is not isolated—it’s a nationwide erosion of democratic institutions under a communal, autocratic regime.”
The PCC announced plans for statewide campaigns to raise public awareness and mobilize resistance against what it described as “staged electoral farce.”
