Lok Sabha Debate Turns Heated Over Electoral Reforms and Vote Manipulation Claims

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New Delhi: A heated debate erupted in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the INDIA bloc exchanged barbs over electoral reforms and the special intensive revision (SIR) of voters' lists. The opposition accused the ruling party of trying to hide its poll failures and manipulating the electoral process, while the government defended its actions, saying they were necessary to clean up electoral rolls. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that vote theft was the biggest anti-national act, which destroys the fabric of the nation and undermines the integrity of the electoral process. He demanded that machine-readable voter lists be given to political parties, immunity to election commissioners be scrapped, and electoral reforms be implemented to prevent vote manipulation. Gandhi also accused the BJP and RSS of capturing India's institutions, citing instances of irregularities in the voter list, including duplicate photos and bogus voters. He claimed that the Election Commission was colluding with those in power to shape elections and demanded greater transparency and accountability in the electoral process. Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal countered Gandhi's allegations, saying that SIR of the voters' list has been done multiple times since 1952 to clean up electoral rolls and address change due to migration and rapid urbanisation. He accused the Congress of ignoring its own shortcomings and trying to hide its poll failures. The debate comes amid a nationwide political storm over the SIR process currently underway in 12 states and Union Territories. The opposition has been demanding electoral reforms, including the expansion of the 3-member committee to select top poll officers to include the Chief Justice of India and the Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition. Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee said that EC's powers cannot override the authority of Parliament and that the object of voter list revision is inclusion, not deletion. The debate highlights the deepening divide between the ruling party and the opposition over electoral reforms and the integrity of the electoral process.