Chouhan Rejects Opposition Demands for Ballot Paper Return

The Union Minister argued that the opposition's push to scrap the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and reinstate ballot papers ignores the historical dangers of booth looting and vote rigging prevalent in the 1980s and 90s. According to Chouhan, modern technological safeguards like EVMs and rigorous voter list verification are essential to maintaining electoral integrity. He emphasized that the SIR process is a necessary administrative update designed to remove dead, duplicate, and shifted names from rolls, rather than a tool for manipulation.

Chouhan pointed to recent electoral victories by the INDIA bloc in states like Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand as evidence of a double standard. He maintained that the opposition only disputes systemic integrity when they lose, framing the current protests as a lack of respect for the public mandate. The minister insisted that systemic reforms must continue to ensure transparency, warning against abandoning modern methods in favor of outdated systems.

Simultaneously, the political confrontation intensified in New Delhi as opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, marched toward the Election Commission headquarters. Yadav alleged fraudulent voter deletions in Uttar Pradesh, challenging CEC Gyanesh Kumar to address specific claims of forged signatures and unauthorized Form-7 applications. The protest marks a significant escalation in the ongoing "Save Democracy" campaign, as the opposition continues to demand greater accountability from the poll panel.