"ECINET was designed to centralise deletions/additions from BJP HQ": Jairam Ramesh
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claims ECINET was designed to centralise voter roll additions and deletions from BJP headquarters.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the ECINET system was specifically designed to centralise the process of adding or deleting names from voter rolls at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.
The senior Congress leader's remarks follow reports regarding security vulnerabilities in the system, which he claims have been ignored by the commission until they faced intense public scrutiny.
Allegations of Centralised Control
Taking to the social media platform X, Ramesh claimed that the ECINET system, which was launched on January 22, 2026, with promises of enhancing transparency and public trust, is fundamentally flawed. He asserted that the system's architecture allows for centralised control over electoral rolls, bypassing traditional statutory authorities.
“It is becoming abundantly clear that ECINET was designed to centralise all deletions/additions from BJP HQs in New Delhi,” Ramesh stated, suggesting a direct link between the technical setup of the system and political interests.
Delayed Response to Security Flaws
Ramesh highlighted a significant delay in how the Election Commission handled security concerns. He cited reports that a security researcher had brought several flaws in the ECINET system to the ECI's attention as early as July 8, 2026. However, he noted that the commission only acknowledged one of these concerns on October 6, 2026—a time when the ECI was already facing heavy criticism.
The Congress leader further noted that the researcher responsible for identifying these flaws is the same individual who previously exposed vulnerabilities in the CBSE's IT system. "It is now the turn of Pradhan Mantri," Ramesh remarked, implying the scale of the current issue is even greater than previous institutional failures.
Violations of Election Laws
The Congress leader did not stop at technical flaws; he also accused the ECI of violating established legal frameworks. According to Ramesh, the commission has undermined the statutory authority of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in several states, including Goa and West Bengal.
He argued that by restricting ERO access to the ECINET voter roll system and overruling their decisions, the ECI has breached:
- The Representation of the People Act, 1950
- The Representation of the People Act, 1951
- The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960
“Both these laws establish that the ERO has statutory authority over the electoral roll,” Ramesh emphasized, calling the ECI's claims of constitutional compliance a "lie."
Calls for Nationwide Accountability
The controversy has escalated following a move by the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer, who reportedly wrote to the ECI on September 24, 2026, seeking a correction of what was described as an illegal state of affairs.
Ramesh declared that the INDIA bloc, along with civil society organisations and concerned citizens, intends to demand accountability for these alleged constitutional violations through nationwide protests. He stated that the movement will seek to address the "damage-enhancing" actions of the commission and ensure that the integrity of the electoral process is upheld.