Jairam Ramesh slams ECI over deleted voters, cites Goa CEO's pleas

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, citing a media report, alleged mass voter deletion by the ECI's ECINet software, highlighting that pleas from Goa's CEO were ignored. He demanded the CEC's resignation. The BJP dismissed the claims as a smear campaign.

Congress Slams ECI Over Voter Deletion

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday cited a recent media report by The Indian Express revealing that despite the Goa Chief Electoral Officer writing to the ECI eight times in seven days to restore the voters deleted by the ECINet software, the voters remained deleted.

In an X post, Ramesh said, "After the sensational revelations in a leading national daily yesterday on the shocking manner in which the CEC has completely destroyed the integrity, credibility and competence of the Election Commission, there is another report this morning." He added, "The Goa CEO wrote to the ECI 8 times in 7 days for inclusion of valid voters deleted by the ECINet software. Goa’s Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) had confirmed these were valid voters. The emails were ignored, and voters were deleted."

After the sensational revelations in a leading national daily yesterday on the shocking manner in which the CEC has completely destroyed the integrity, credibility and competence of the Election Commission, there is another report this morning: •⁠ ⁠The Goa CEO wrote to the ECI 8 times in 7 days for inclusion of valid voters deleted by the ECINet software. Goa’s Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) had confirmed these were valid voters. The emails were ignored and voters deleted. •⁠ ⁠The whole SIR has been handed over to this ECINet software, leading to the disastrous phase 3 of SIR which has deleted or flagged 54% of voters in Delhi and nearly 12 Crore across all states. •⁠ ⁠In an illegal and centralising move, EROs’ access to the ECINet software was restricted. According to The Representation of the People Act, 1950, the ERO has statutory authority over the electoral roll. The 2 ECs wrote to the Cabinet Secretary flagging this violation. •⁠ ⁠In another illegal move, the process to add new voters through Form 6 has been made more difficult. Gen Z is being targeted for exclusion. Each new piece of evidence further confirms what the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been saying for almost two years ever since the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly election results were out. The election process has been thorougly compromised and vitiated. This is Gyanesh Kumar implementing the Method of Disenfranchising Indians (MODI). As a first step the CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately if he has any shred of decency and morality left in him. The PM and the HM will thereafter will be held accountable for their diabolical designs. — Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 24, 2026

Key Allegations Detailed

The Congress leader said that the whole SIR has been handed over to ECINet software, leading to the disastrous phase 3 of SIR, which has deleted or flagged 54 per cent of voters in Delhi and nearly 12 Crore across all states. Citing the media report, he said that the EROs’ access to the ECINet software was restricted. "According to The Representation of the People Act, 1950, the ERO has statutory authority over the electoral roll. The 2 ECs wrote to the Cabinet Secretary flagging this violation," he said.

Jairam Ramesh added that along with this, the process to add new voters through Form 6 has been made more difficult. Gen Z is being targeted for exclusion. The Congress General Secretary further emphasised that the media reports are now proving what Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi had been saying over the years. "Each new piece of evidence further confirms what the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has been saying for almost two years ever since the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly election results were out. The election process has been thoroughly compromised and vitiated," he said.

Seeking the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Ramesh said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have any morality left, the CEC will be held accountable for his "diabolical designs." "This is Gyanesh Kumar implementing the Method of Disenfranchising Indians (MODI). As a first step, the CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately if he has any shred of decency and morality left in him. The PM and the HM will thereafter be held accountable for their diabolical designs," he said.

Pawan Khera Details Goa Voter Deletion

Congress leader Pawan Khera also pointed out that, along with the Goa CEO, Goa's Deputy Election Commissioner raised the issue of 97 deleted voters with Director General (IT) Seema Khanna; however, no response was received. In an X post, Khera noted, "No response came. No correction was made. The 97 voters remain off the rolls."

The State of Exception in India. 🚫Goa’s ground-level Electoral Registration Officers decided that 97 voters should be restored to the rolls. 🚫But the software controlled by the Election Commission of India’s IT division in Delhi did not give them access to reverse the earlier deletions. 🚫The Goa Chief Electoral Officer wrote to Delhi eight times in seven days, asking for that access to be enabled. 🚫Goa’s Deputy Election Commissioner separately wrote to Director General (IT) Seema Khanna, pointing out that the system was blocking Electoral Registration Officers from taking corrective action themselves. 🚫No response came. No correction was made. The 97 voters remain off the rolls. Strip away the bureaucratic language, and what is left is this: one official in Delhi — certain Ms. Seema Khanna — effectively determines whether these voters can be restored to the electoral rolls by exercising control over the software permissions. The entire architecture of electoral registration was designed to prevent precisely this. Authority over additions and deletions was entrusted to Electoral Registration Officers on the ground precisely so that no single office could sit atop the rolls and unilaterally determine who counts. That decentralisation was not an administrative convenience. It was the constitutional safeguard. Today, that safeguard stands effectively annihilated by centralised technological control. — Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 ಪವನ್ ಖೇರಾ (@Pawankhera) September 24, 2026

The Congress leader said that the decentralisation was not an administrative convenience but a constitutional safeguard to ensure that no single office could sit at the top of the electoral rolls. He further said that the decentralisation has been deeply compromised. "The entire architecture of electoral registration was designed to prevent precisely this. Authority over additions and deletions was entrusted to Electoral Registration Officers on the ground precisely so that no single office could sit atop the rolls and unilaterally determine who counts. That decentralisation was not an administrative convenience. It was the constitutional safeguard. Today, that safeguard stands effectively annihilated by centralised technological control," he said.

Shashi Tharoor Demands ECI Apology

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor expressed disappointment over the alleged irregularities in the Commission, demanding that the ECI issue an apology to the citizens of India. "This is extremely serious and involves depriving Indian citizens of their constitutional rights, as well as withholding essential humanitarian benefits, from dialysis treatments to transplants. Political chicanery is bad enough, but inhumane conduct is unconscionable. @ECISVEEP owes an apology to the affected citizens and indeed to the nation. Resignation is a minimal demand; rescinding this disastrous software and undoing the harm it has caused is now indispensable," he said.

This is extremely serious and involves depriving Indian citizens of their constitutional rights, as well as withholding essential humanitarian benefits, from dialysis treatments to transplants. Political chicanery is bad enough, but inhumane conduct is unconscionable. @ECISVEEP owes an apology to the affected citizens and indeed to the nation. Resignation is a minimal demand; rescinding this disastrous software and undoing the harm it has caused is now indispensable. — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 24, 2026

BJP Rejects Allegations, Calls it 'Smear Campaign'

Meanwhile, Jharkhand BJP Chief Spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo vehemently rejected the allegations, accusing the Opposition of running a coordinated campaign to discredit constitutional institutions. Speaking to ANI, he termed the reports a "nationwide smear campaign" orchestrated by parties frustrated by repeated electoral losses.

"We believe a nationwide smear campaign is underway, orchestrated by the Opposition through the planting of news stories. The fact that posts appear on 'X' from various leaders within just ten minutes of a story being planted suggests that something is clearly being cooked up. The Election Commission conducted elections very efficiently across 12 states; the process went smoothly. If two Election Commissioners were vehemently opposed, any action taken wouldn't have yielded the desired benefit. I feel that those who are repeatedly losing elections are the ones trying to cast aspersions on the Election Commission," he said.

#WATCH | Ranchi | Jharkhand BJP Chief Spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo says, "We believe a nationwide smear campaign is underway, orchestrated by the Opposition through the planting of news stories. The fact that posts appear on 'X' from various leaders within just ten minutes of a story being planted suggests that something is clearly being cooked up. The Election Commission conducted elections very efficiently across 12 states; the process went smoothly... If two Election Commissioners were vehemently opposed, any action taken wouldn't have yielded the desired benefit. I feel that those who are repeatedly losing elections are the ones trying to cast aspersions on the Election Commission. The politicisation of the Election Commission actually occurred back when M.S. Gill stepped down as Chief Election Commissioner; he subsequently served as a Union Minister in the Congress-led UPA government for ten years..." — ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2026

He further pivoted the attack onto the Congress, alleging that the true politicisation of the poll panel occurred when former CEC M.S. Gill stepped down and subsequently served as a Union Minister in the UPA government for a decade. "The politicisation of the Election Commission actually occurred back when M.S. Gill stepped down as Chief Election Commissioner; he subsequently served as a Union Minister in the Congress-led UPA government for ten years," he said.

These remarks came after The Indian Express published a fresh media report stating that the Goa Chief Electoral Officer wrote to Delhi eight times in seven days, asking for that access to be enabled, but all in vain. This media report follows the earlier one, which revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)