Congress renews demands to halt voter-roll revision

Congress leaders on October 25 renewed demands to halt the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities and a lack of transparency in the process. The Election Commission has defended its procedures, saying its orders have legal sanction and follow statutory requirements. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the commission had declined to disclose the name and version of software used to identify errors and anomalies during the revision, known as the SIR. The reported response to a Right to Information request cited commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property as grounds for withholding the details. Ramesh alleged that keeping the information private concealed centralised manipulation. The supplied reports do not independently establish that allegation. Ramesh also questioned whether artificial intelligence was used in the exercise and what safeguards applied. He said the commission had repeatedly denied using AI, and asked why information about ECINET’s development had emerged through Tata Consultancy Services rather than a direct disclosure from the poll body. The...