'If system is gamed, how did you win Kerala, Telangana?': Nara Lokesh to Congress on SIR row

If the Election Commission's system was being "gamed" to help the BJP win elections, how did the party lose in states such as Kerala, Telangana, and Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh said on Wednesday.

"If they gamed and fixed the system, then why did they lose Keralam?" Lokesh said in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai at the India Today South Conclave in Kochi.

"Telangana?" he added when Sardesai pointed to the BJP's limited presence in Kerala.

Lokesh was responding to opposition allegations that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was helping the BJP through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

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The Andhra minister, whose Telugu Desam Party is part of the NDA, said political parties also had a responsibility to ensure that eligible voters were correctly mapped on the electoral rolls.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) won elections in Kerala, Karnataka, and Telangana. So how can you?" Lokesh said, referring to the opposition's criticism of the Election Commission.

"If you lose, there's a role of SIR. I mean, where is your organisation to even look at votes where votes are getting added? Have you done any homework? Where is your booth-level organisation? In the absence of it, you're blaming the Election Commission."

The remarks come amid a row over SIR and the functioning of the CEC. An Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions involving SIR, voter additions and deletions, Form 6, and electoral-roll systems.

The Election Commission later said the nationwide SIR order and subsequent schedules had received unanimous approval from the three-member Commission.

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'System is not perfect'

Lokesh said the TDP had itself sought clarifications from the EC over SIR and had gone through the process in Andhra Pradesh.

"Is the system perfect? Absolutely not. There are areas of improvement like any system is," he said. "But is the intent there to make it better to resolve the issues that need resolution? That is in place."

He said the TDP had reviewed the EC's response and was satisfied with it. "As a party, we've seen the letter that the Election Commission has put out. We believe that is in order, and as we go forward, we will give our input on how to make it even better," Lokesh said.

The TDP minister also rejected the argument that the deletion of more than 13 crore names from draft rolls should, by itself, cast doubt on the process. He said the TDP had actively worked on voter mapping during Andhra Pradesh’s SIR exercise. "In Andhra Pradesh, we went through our SIR process. 92% of the votes got mapped," he said.

He said political parties and booth-level workers had a role in the exercise, including helping voters submit documents where required. "I'm saying it's important that every eligible voter is on the electoral rolls," Lokesh said. "And as a political party, we've understood the power of the voter list. From day one, we've been very focused."