Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram said that it cannot be said that Vijay Kumar’s party, TVK, formed the government in Tamil Nadu due to vote theft. Speaking to the media during a protest in Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, demanding the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, P. Chidambaram said, “SIR was conducted on voter lists in many states. The names of 6.5 million voters were removed in the first round, 6.5 million in the second round, and 6.10 crore in the third round. Thus, a total of 133 million voters were removed from the list. It is not known how these millions of people were removed from the list.”
The former minister said that in Bengal, 2.2 million people who were removed from SIR have appealed. In six months, under the leadership of judges, only 1.26 lakh appeals have been resolved. 91% of these people have been re-included. This is a major flaw and a criminal conspiracy. According to a report in The Hindu, he also said that at this pace, the remaining appeals could be decided in 15 years. During this period, there will be three assembly elections and the same number of Lok Sabha elections. However, these people will not be able to vote in any election.
The former minister said that in Bengal, 2.2 million people have appealed against their removal from the SIR. In the six months since the judges’ leadership, only 1.26 lakh appeals have been resolved. 91% of these people are those whose names have been re-included. This is a major flaw and a criminal conspiracy. According to a report in The Hindu, he also said that at this pace, the remaining appeals could be decided in 15 years. During this period, there will be three assembly elections and the same number of Lok Sabha elections. However, these people will not be able to vote in any election.
During this time, he also discussed the Tamil Nadu elections. He said that it would not be correct to say that TVK’s victory and DMK’s defeat were solely due to vote theft or voter list irregularities. Chidambaram claimed that serious errors were found in voter lists in many states across the country, and a large number of people’s names were removed. However, he also said that it is not appropriate to consider the entire election outcome as final based on these irregularities. According to him, TVK received approximately 35% of the votes in the election and the party won. Therefore, claiming that the result was due solely to vote theft or electoral irregularities is not in accordance with the facts.
During this time, he also discussed the Tamil Nadu elections. He said that it would not be correct to say that TVK’s victory and DMK’s defeat were solely due to vote theft or voter list irregularities. Chidambaram claimed that serious errors were found in voter lists in many states across the country, and a large number of people’s names were removed. However, he also said that it is not appropriate to consider the entire election outcome as final based on these irregularities. According to him, TVK received approximately 35% of the vote in the election, and the party won. Therefore, claiming that the result was solely due to vote deletions or electoral fraud is inconsistent with the facts.
He said that some voters may have been wrongly removed from the list, but that alone cannot be concluded to have determined the election outcome. The Congress leader said similar incidents have occurred in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Karnataka. In New Delhi, 270,000 people were removed. These people were in 24 wards. This is a grave injustice. He said that the names of people like Amartya Sena and LK Advani were removed from the list. “Until now, we thought that all three Election Commissioners were involved in this decision,” he said. “Now, it has come to light that two other commissioners are saying that the Chief Election Commissioner alone made the decision.”