'This isn't just vote theft, it's rights theft': Rahul Gandhi flags voter ID link to
'This isn't just vote theft, it's rights theft': Rahul Gandhi flags voter ID link to welfare benefits
M.U.H
06/11/202619
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the BJP government of attempting to turn voter identification into a condition for accessing welfare benefits, alleging that the move, coupled with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, could deprive millions of their rights.
"This isn't just vote theft, it's rights theft," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, reacting to Union Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh's announcement that voter ID cards would replace Aadhaar for identifying beneficiaries of social welfare schemes.
In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that the government was conspiring to link access to welfare schemes with electoral rolls at a time when the SIR exercise was resulting in the deletion of millions of names from voter lists.
"The conspiracy runs very deep -- take your time to understand it. Under the guise of SIR, millions of names are being struck off voter lists. If not stopped, even more will be removed. Whose names are being targeted the most? Those who are furious with the BJP," he said.
Gandhi questioned the impartiality of the Election Commission, alleging that electoral rolls were effectively in the hands of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whom he accused of colluding with the BJP in what he termed vote theft.
He further alleged that the government was preparing electoral rolls that could determine not only a person's voting rights but also their eligibility for welfare benefits.
"Anyone who decided yesterday that the BJP must go, will have their names cherry-picked and struck off. Name struck -- vote gone. Vote gone -- rights gone," Gandhi said.
Warning that the move could make people "invisible citizens" in a democracy, he questioned whether voter ID would eventually become mandatory for accessing other benefits, including ration, pensions, MGNREGA, housing, scholarships and reservations.
"This isn't politics to win elections, it's an arrangement to steal elections and a permanent setup to cling to power," he alleged.
Emphasising that voting was a right and not a condition for accessing welfare, Gandhi said a poor person's pension should not be linked to their voter ID. He also shared a video of Singh's remarks on social media.
The Congress had on Thursday also criticised the Centre over the announcement, alleging that "vote chori" was only the beginning and that the move amounted to an attempt to steal people's rights.
Singh had said that beneficiaries of financial assistance and welfare payments under schemes of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj would now be required to provide their Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number along with mandatory biometric authentication.
