‘Is it possible to have two passports and one Aadhaar number? Then how can we have one electoral identity number?’
#News Bureau March 3,2025
Can two people have the same Aadhaar number? Even if they are from two different states. Can the number plate number of two vehicles be the same? Do you have any idea how dangerous it can be if it happens? Can two people have the same passport number? No, right? Then how can more than one voter have the same Electoral Photo Identity Card i.e. EPIC?
TMC has raised these questions after the Election Commission’s clarification on the allegations of irregularities in EPIC. On Mamata Banerjee’s allegations, the Election Commission had said in a statement on Sunday that duplication in EPIC number does not mean duplicate or fake voter. It had said that due to ‘manual error’ the EPIC number of voters of two states became the same. On this claim of the Election Commission, TMC made a big allegation in a press conference on Monday.
TMC MPs Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghosh and Kirti Azad have given an ultimatum to the Election Commission to correct the discrepancy by holding a press conference. They have said that if the Election Commission does not accept the discrepancy and correct it within 24 hours, then TMC will release more documents of similar discrepancies on Tuesday.
Sagarika Ghosh said, “Today we held a press conference on the ‘EPIC’ scam. TMC has exposed the duplicate EPIC card scam with evidence. When Aadhaar cards have unique numbers, when license plates have unique numbers, how can many people have the same EPIC number? The Election Commission’s response is completely unsatisfactory. TMC has given 24 hours to the Election Commission to admit its mistake, otherwise we will release another document tomorrow.”
Derek O’Brien along with Sagarika Ghose, Kirti Azad on Monday showed the list of voter ID cards with the same EPIC number and said that most of these are from BJP ruled states. He said that we want that only the voter of that state should vote in the election in the state he belongs to. O’Brien said that only the voter of Bengal should vote in Bengal. He said that ‘voters will not be allowed to vote because people with the same EPIC number would have already cast the votes of those voters. These people will be brought from other states to cast votes. This is unacceptable.’
TMC has made this fresh allegation because the Election Commission had issued a statement on Sunday and clarified. On Mamata Banerjee’s allegations, the Election Commission clarified in a statement that repetition in EPIC number does not mean duplicate or fake voter.
The ECI said, ‘Irrespective of the EPIC number, any voter can vote only at his polling station in his constituency in his state or union territory where he is enrolled in the voter list and not anywhere else.’ But TMC called this statement of the Election Commission as proof of irregularities in the voter list.
Terming it as ‘EPIC scam’, Derek O’Brien on Monday alleged that the Election Commission issued a clarification on Sunday when TMC announced the press conference. He said that I am praising the Election Commission in limited way because the Election Commission is admitting the mistake but is not accepting it.
Let us tell you that on 27 February, Mamata had alleged that many voters have the same Electoral Photo Identity Card i.e. EPIC number. She had said that how can more than one voter have the same ID card number, this is fraud. After continuous attacks from TMC, the Election Commission is now under pressure to give clarification. So the question is, is the Election Commission now trapped in the matter of Electoral Photo Identity Card i.e. EPIC number?
