“Secret operations” were directed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national general secretary (organisation) B. L. Santosh, Congress alleges
NEW DELHI — The Congress on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan of conspiring to manipulate electoral rolls by selectively deleting the names of voters perceived to be supporters of the Opposition. The party alleged that these “secret operations” were directed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national general secretary (organisation) B. L. Santosh.
Addressing a press conference here, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Tika Ram Jully claimed that the deletion of voters’ names gained sudden momentum following Santosh’s visit to the state, and later during Amit Shah’s tour.
Dotasra said that until January 3, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls appeared to be a routine administrative process. However, he alleged that after Santosh held meetings with BJP leaders during his visit that day, a fraudulent exercise involving large-scale deletion and addition of names was set in motion.
He further claimed that the Congress had earlier expressed apprehensions of collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission over the extension of the SIR timeline, alleging it would be misused to remove voters aligned with the Congress. “Unfortunately, what we feared has now come true,” Dotasra said.
According to him, the alleged deletion drive was carried out covertly and at an accelerated pace between January 3 and January 13, coinciding with Amit Shah’s visit to Rajasthan. Dotasra alleged that thousands of fake, computer-generated forms were printed for each Assembly constituency and distributed among BJP ministers, MLAs, and even candidates who had lost elections.
He claimed that Assembly segments won by the Congress were specifically targeted in what he described as “vote chori” (vote theft). Under election rules, he said, a Booth Level Agent (BLA) can submit a maximum of 10 forms per day after the publication of the draft electoral roll. “In clear violation of these rules, BJP MLAs and ministers submitted thousands of forms to sub-divisional magistrates using forged signatures of BLAs,” he alleged.
Dotasra added that several BJP BLAs had publicly told the media that they had not submitted any such forms and that their signatures had been forged. He also claimed that in his own constituency, the SDM refused to accept forms carrying forged signatures.
Both Dotasra and Jully alleged that government officials were being threatened and intimidated to comply with the BJP’s directives. They further claimed that BJP office-bearers were given access to voter data to identify Congress supporters, delete their names from the electoral rolls, and add fake voters.
Elaborating on the allegations, Jully played video clips at the press conference to support the party’s claims. “This is from my own constituency. In Mannaka village, 517 votes have been cut. Out of 1,000 voters, 517 names are being deleted,” he said. “These bundles you see are from Karauli. I am talking about just one village.”
Pointing to another clip, Jully alleged, “As per the rules, one person can submit only 10 forms in a day. But here, a single individual is submitting 500 forms. This is our MLA Sanjay Jatav from Dholpur, who is calling the Booth Level Officer and asking when the forms reached them.”
Concluding his remarks, Jully said, “This is the reality. Forms are being submitted without names and without mobile numbers. You can see for yourself what is happening.”
