‘Election Commission excluding Gen Z from voting,’ says Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday accused the Election Commission of first excluding first-time voters from voting rights through SIR and then holding youth registration camps to cover it up.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Congress Spokesperson Ragini Nayak Basoya described youth registration camps being organised by the Election Commission of India for first-time voters as “hogwash”.

She claimed that the Modi government was afraid of the political consciousness of Gen Z and that is the reason why registration of new young voters had been stalled for the past two years.

She also claimed that in the last two years, no special summary revision of electoral rolls for the inclusion of first-time voters was held in the country.

Basoya accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of disrupting the statutory process of special summary revision, under which citizens turning 18 are enrolled as voters.

She said that the process had been kept on hold since 2024, depriving young people of an opportunity to get their names included in the electoral rolls.

“The Modi government is afraid of the political consciousness of Gen-Z, which is why the Chief Election Commissioner has stalled the statutory process of special summary revision,” she alleged.

Basoya observed that after the issue came to light, the Election Commission was now “hurriedly” organising voter-registration camps for youth in an attempt to “save” its reputation and “cover up” the delay.

She also questioned the changes made to Form 6A, saying that a new mandatory requirement was introduced in July under which first-time voters were required to provide details of where their parents or grandparents had been registered during the previous SIR.

She argued that such a change was beyond the Election Commission’s authority and mandate under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The Congress spokesperson said only the central government, after informing Parliament, can make amendments to the relevant rules. She also noted that the other two Election Commissioners had raised written objections to the provision, describing it as “illegal and unauthorised”.

“The process for new voters should be made easier, not burdened with additional hurdles,” she noted.

She pointed out that the Commission, despite being in a minority, had excluded around 13.8 crore voters from the electoral process by the third phase of the SIR.

Basoya said that Kumar was not only facilitating “vote theft” at the behest of the Modi government but was also involved in manipulation of the voting rights of Gen-Z voters.

“Gyanesh Kumar now has only two options: resign and, as Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has suggested, become an approver and reveal who the real conspirators behind ‘vote theft’ are,” she said.