India’s ambassador to America Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Thursday criticised US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal for her “unacceptable interference” on India’s electoral processes and in the country’s internal affairs.
“The remarks by [Jayapal] on India’s electoral and political processes are unacceptable interference in India’s internal affairs,” Kwatra said on X. Jayapal said she was “deeply concerned” as she alleged efforts to remove 130 million people from voter rolls in India, drawing a comparison with efforts by US President Donald Trump ‘s administration to undermine voting rights.
This appears to be a similar playbook to what the Trump Administration is doing here at home to undermine voting rights in a democracy,” she wrote on X. Critics, however, questioned the timing of the demand and warned that errors in government records could affect eligible voters. Being flagged for verification does not, by itself, mean that someone is a non-citizen or has voted illegally.
“I am deeply concerned about the actions of the Indian government to purge 130 million people from the voting rolls. The controversy intensified after The Indian Express reported in September that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months on issues linked to the revision, registration procedures and digital electoral-roll systems.
The report said the commissioners had raised concerns about decisions taken by Gyanesh Kumar without their knowledge. The Justice Department said it was enforcing federal election law.
The administration has sought access to state voter-registration records and has tried to use federal databases to check voters’ eligibility. These efforts have faced legal challenges, with critics arguing that inaccurate records could lead to eligible citizens being wrongly identified as ineligible.
Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to check voter-registration records and identify people it believes may be ineligible to vote.
