Now Reading: Congress alleges voter roll manipulation in UP’s Pilibhit
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Congress alleges voter roll manipulation in UP’s Pilibhit
The Story in Brief
The Uttar Pradesh Congress on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, alleged large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in the Pilibhit Sadar Assembly constituency, claiming that names of 13,150 voters were changed while their EPIC and serial numbers remained unchanged. AICC in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam said 884 names were deleted despite voters still residing there, and 2,600 names were added of people who allegedly did not live in the area, affecting over 16,000 entries. The party demanded a probe and called on the Supreme Court to reject the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
The UP CEO's office later suspended poll officials in Pilibhit after finding that some voters' EPIC numbers displayed details of other voters online, and initiated legal action against the Electoral Registration Officer and a centre operator. A team has been formed to verify the Congress's charges, and a special voter registration drive is scheduled across all 75 districts on 24 October. The draft electoral roll is to be published on 12 November.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Congress's allegation of 13,150 name changes in Pilibhit is reported verbatim by The Hindu and Indian Express, while The Federal adds that a district team has been formed to verify the charges. The UP CEO's suspension of officials, reported by Deccan Chronicle, acknowledges a technical error without confirming manipulation. Hindustan Times and Outlook India focus on the EC's deduplication measures and CEO Rinwa's directive to remove duplicate entries, framing the issue as administrative routine. The Wire reports software changes sought by Maharashtra's CEO, indicating the EC is addressing procedural gaps. The balanced reading: the Congress's claim of systemic manipulation and the EC's response of targeted suspensions and software fixes are not mutually exclusive, both point to unresolved software and procedural flaws. The next step is the Supreme Court's consideration of the opposition's petition against the SIR process.
Coverage: 15 sources, 7 government-critical, 8 neutral
Sources (15): hindustantimes.com (neutral report), thefederal.com (government critical), thewire.in (neutral report), PTI (carried by outlookindia.com, livemint.com), thehindu.com (government critical), economictimes.indiatimes.com (government critical), indianexpress.com (government critical), indiatoday.in (government critical), scroll.in (government critical), deccanchronicle.com (neutral report), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report), deccanherald.com (neutral report), moneycontrol.com (neutral report), theprint.in (neutral report), highlandpost.com (government critical)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 15 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
