EC's clarification on duplicate voter ID numbers a cover-up: TMC

TMC exposes Election Commission's cover-up on duplicate voter ID numbers, demands impartial investigation into the scam.

The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday (March 4, 2025) dismissed the Election Commission's clarifications on duplicate voter ID numbers as a "cover-up" and cited the poll panel's own guidelines to assert that two cards cannot have the same number.

The TMC on Monday alleged a "scam" in issuing duplicate voter ID card numbers and gave the poll panel a 24-hour deadline to "accept its mistake".

On Tuesday, party Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale shared on X excerpts from the 'Handbook For Electoral Registration Officers' to counter the poll panel's clarifications on the issue, which was first raised by party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"Yesterday, All India Trinamool Congress had given Election Commission of India 24 hours to admit and accept their blunder on the duplicate voter ID fraud issue. Clearly, the ECI, which has been exposed, wants to brazen it out," Mr. Gokhale said.

"The 'clarification' given by ECI (on Sunday) in response to CM Mamata Banerjee is actually a cover-up. They have admitted there's something wrong but are refusing to accept it. The false 'clarification' given by the ECI contradicts their own rules and guidelines," he said.

He said the process of issuing the EPIC (Electronic Electoral Photo Identity) cards is laid down in the ECI's 'Handbook For Electoral Registration Officers'.

While the EC said that EPIC cards with the same numbers were issued to multiple voters due to certain states using the same "alphanumeric series", Mr. Gokhale shared excerpts from the handbook and said it is impossible as Functional Unique Serial Numbers (FUSN) are different for every Assembly constituency.