Paswan urges Election Commission to address public doubts

Union minister Chirag Paswan urged India’s Election Commission to explain its handling of electoral-roll decisions more clearly, saying the body should address public doubts about the process amid reported objections by two commissioners to decisions linked to a voter-list revision exercise. Paswan’s appeal on Friday focused on public confidence and was distinct from opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations against the commission. Paswan said he would not defend the constitutional body simply because he is part of the government, and that the commission should clarify its position to the public rather than respond to political exchanges. The dispute centers on the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls. A report described Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi as having formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions involving electoral rolls. The reported concerns included voter-database integrity, changes to new-voter enrollment, electoral-roll security and SIR-related deletions.