Why does the polling screen in India face credibility test

The Indian Electoral Commission (ECI), one of the most reliable public institutions in the world’s largest democracy, faces a test of its credibility.

Over the past few weeks, a series of allegations from the opposition, from fraud and manipulation of voters, have made the contradictions in the electoral lists. I have denied all this.

The opposition leaders, who made huge protests against ECI in recent days, said they are considering proposing the dismissal to remove the chief election commissioner from his post. They did not raise the proposal by Thursday, the last day of the seasonal parliament session, and they currently do not have the numbers to see them.

During, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the main opposition party conference in India, launched 16 days, 1300 km (807 miles) – known as voter Adekar Yatra (voter rights) – in Bihar to protest ECI, on the occasion of a dramatic escalation in the political battle. Bihar, who is scheduled to vote in major government elections later this year, was in the middle of A. Hot controversy about a recent review Election roll.

Gandhi first provided allegations Voting In August, ECI was accused of complicity with the ruling BHARATIEA JANATA party (BJP) to manipulate the general elections for 2024.

Using granular data from private ECI records, he claimed that the Parliamentary Circle in the southern state of Karnataka has more than 100,000 fake voters, including carboned voters, unfit heads and wholesale records in one location.

ECI has repeatedly described allegations as “wrong and misleading.” The Bharatia Gata Party has strongly denied these allegations, with leader Anurag Thakur Saying Congress and the opposition gathered to make these “unfounded claims” because they were expecting a Bihar loss.

The press conference was held as the controversy in Bihar that was urgent.

The SIR (SIR) review occurred between June and July, where ECI said that its representatives visited all 78.9 million voters for his verification.

ECI says this was done to update the voter lists after more than 20 years, but the opposition leaders say that the operation may have deprived tens of thousands of people, especially immigrants, because of the wheel that was conducted and the arduous documents required as evidence.

After publishing the draft updated list on August 1, several reports, Including the BBCThe mistakes in counting, such as the wrong sex and the pictures designated against the names of people, and the dead voters on the lists.

The new draft contains 72.4 million names – less than 6.5 million names before, as the committee says that negligence includes repeated voters, deceased and migrants. Those who think their names have been hit wrong until September 1 to appeal.

Meanwhile, the criticism also increased the way ECI published the names of 6.5 million people who were excluded from the draft menus.

The opposition parties questioned the reason for the committee submitting material copies of light -based, instead of reading lists of reading machine for deleted voters, which can be independently verified by analysts and political parties.

In the end, the Supreme Court of India asked ECI to publish a search list of voters and also mentioned the reasons for their exclusion.

ECI’s “procedural failure” interference and must be considered “rap music on the joints”, Editorial In the leading Hindu newspaper he said.

Amidst the stabilization, ECI held a rare weekend press conference On August 17 to address some allegations.

“If you use conditions such as theft of voting and misleading citizens, what will you also call, other than insulting the Indian constitution?” The chief election commissioner Gianch Kumar said, referring to Gandhi’s allegations.

He referred to the 2019 Supreme Court ruling to say that the opposition’s request for the lists of automated voters can affect people’s privacy.

He also asked to give Gandhi a written certificate under the department to prove his allegations, or to apologize to the nation for his observations.

But instead of putting the matter in rest, the data has caused more anger, as some opposition politicians accuse Komar either by avoiding answering specific questions or providing unsatisfactory explanations.

Bawan told the Indian BBC to the “BBC Constitutional Party” that the “rivalry tone” of Kumar at the press conference made it look “as if the leader of the Bharatia Jatata Party was speaking.”

Experts say that on their own, Gandhi’s allegations, or the fact that millions of new voters have been added or removed from the lists in Bihar, do not prove any violations.

“When the voter list is verified extensively, such big differences must occur in the numbers,” said Tamil’s former chief commissioner former Electoral Commissioner.

Mr. Gopalaswami added that when the electoral list of the state of southern Karnataka was revised in 2008, about 5.2 million voters were removed, with nearly a million people who are advancing again.

ECI also approved a certificate signed by Gandhi, saying that responding to the allegations without a written complaint puts a bad precedent for the institution.

But with Gandhi’s rights to the rights of the voters and Bihar elections, which are looming on the horizon, the case is unlikely to die.

“Whatever the electoral committee, the opposition will definitely make it a problem with the upcoming Bihar elections,” the prominent journalist, Smita Gupta, told BBC Hindi.

Meanwhile, there are greater concerns about playing about the effect of all this on the fans’ confidence in the ECI.

“The confidence set up by ECI is almost once under general audit,” wrote, chief commissioner for the former Electoral Commissioner for Indian Express, wrote:

He added that although “the procedural architecture of transparency in the elections is still ongoing … the perception of neutrality is no less important than its reality. Enhancing this confidence is crucial as ensuring technical accuracy.”

According to a survey published this month by Lokniti, a research program at the Center for Developing Societies (CSDS), ECI confidence has decreased sharply.

The head of the agency, Sanjay Kumar, was working separately at the ECI and BJP intersection after he apologized for the exchange of wrong data on the voters ’turnout in Maharashtra, but the results he reached in other states indicate a growing confidence deficit with ECI.

In all the six states included in CSDS in 2025, the number of people who did not trust the European Commission sharply increased from 2019 – in Uttar Pradesh, the most populated state in India, increased from 11 % to 31 % in this period.

This systematic erosion, Mr. Kumar said Wire News portal, “You should be a great concern” for the committee.

“Not only the confidence of the opposition that fell, but also the confidence between the people who fell. The data clearly indicates this,” said Mr. Kumar.

Follow BBC News India Instagramand YouTube, x and Facebook.