EC behaving like Dhritarashtra: Arvind Kejriwal

April 10, 2017

New Delhi, Apr 10: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today likened the Election Commission to the Mahabharat's Dhritarashtra character, saying the supposedly impartial election regulator is doing everything it can to get "its son" the BJP to win, by turning a blind eye to faulty voting machines.

"Election Commission has become Dhritarashtra, who is trying to win his son BJP at any cost," said Kejriwal.

As evidence of this, the Delhi CM implied that the EC was merely replacing allegedly faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) instead of investigating them. "In such a circumstance, why are elections being held at all," he asked.

He further said that the EVMs aren't exactly "defective", they have been "tampered with".

If there were a defect, then some machines would have voted for the Congress and other opposition parties, Kejriwal reasoned.

"It means this is not a malfunction but the software of these machines have been tampered with or has been completely changed."

Kejriwal also alleged that even though EVMs are available in the Capital, they are being brought from Rajasthan for the April 23 Delhi municipal polls are being brought from Rajasthan although many EVMs were available in Delhi. "In such a scenario, would elections be fair?" he asked.

The AAP chief alleged that 18 machines in Rajasthan voted only for the BJP - in yesterday's Dholpur bypoll - no matter which button was pressed by the voters. He also made reference to an earlier allegedly tampered EVM in Bhind in Madhya Pradesh.

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Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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