'Should EC get misled by people and allow casting of fake votes': EC responds to criticism, defends Bihar SIR

Amid mounting criticim over the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar , the Election Commission on Thursday in a statement defended the exercise, asking if the poll body should instead be allowing he dead, those who have migrated permanently or have registered themselves as electors at multiple places be included in the voters' list. The Constitution of India is the mother of Indian democracy....So, fearing these things, should the Election Commission, getting misled by some people, pave the way for some to cast fake votes in the name of deceased voters, voters who have migrated permanently, voters who have got their votes registered at two places, fake voters or foreign voters, going against the Constitution, first in Bihar, then in the entire country? Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar asked in a statement. Isn't the authentic voter list being prepared by the Election Commission through a transparent process, the foundation stone for fair elections and a strong democracy? On these questions, sometimes or the other, all of us and all the citizens of India will have to think deeply, going beyond political ideologies. And perhaps the most appropriate time for this essential thinking for all of you has now arrived in India, he added. The statement comes amid opposition parties' mounting criticism of the poll body, alleging that the voter list revision is aimed at disenfranchising specific voter groups ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in Bihar, in the interest of the BJP-led central government. In a scathing attack on the EC, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha on Thursday said that his party has concrete 100 per cent proof of the pol body allowing cheating in a constituency in Karnataka. I want to send a message to the Election Commission - if you thing you are going to get away with this, if your officers think they are going to get away with this, you are mistaken, you are not going to get away with this because we are going to come for you, Gandhi told reporters in Parliament House premises. 'Have 100% proof': Rahul Gandhi claims EC allowed vote fraud in Karnataka The Congress leader on Wednesday alleged that elections are being stolen in India and claimed that his party has figured out the modus operandi of the vote theft by studying a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka. Gandhi said he would put before the people and the Election Commission in black in white on how the heft of votes is being done. His remarks came after it emerged that during house-to-house visits in the ongoing SIR of the electoral roll in Bihar, poll officials have so far found that more than 52 lakh voters were not present at their addresses. Election Commission files affidavit in SC, defends Bihar SIR exercise