The online Form 6 – which is used for fresh voter registration – was changed “illegally”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Friday, asking who at the Election Commission ordered Tata Consultancy Services, or TCS, to make that change.
Earlier on Wednesday, INDIA bloc leaders held a coordination meeting in New Delhi and announced a series of protests against the poll body.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said Opposition parties would organise a nationwide “Save Democracy March” at the district level from October 2 to October 8.
Both the Commissioners contended that the form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, could not be modified without amending the rules. Notably, the poll body in its September 26 statement also stated that the declaration accompanying Form 6 would now be used only during the period of SIR. They said that Form 6 was never amended, and the declaration was merely added to it. It also stated that the power to add the declaration form was upheld by the Supreme Court in its judgment on May 27. Opposition MPs are also scheduled to march to the Election Commission on October 6, while INDIA bloc leaders are expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu in the second week of October to raise their concerns.
In their dissent, the two Election Commissioners had reportedly said that this was beyond the poll body’s mandate and only the Law Ministry was empowered to suggest or effect any changes.
Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, asked whether TCS was pressured into doing this. The declaration sought information on whether the applicant’s name, or that of their parent or grandparent, appeared in the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR. An additional declaration relating to the previous SIR electoral roll was added to the online Form 6 on the ECINET portal, according to the report.
