New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday issued a notice to senior Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera over the alleged possession of two Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) and sought an explanation regarding his registration as a voter in two separate constituencies of Delhi.
The notice, sent by the New Delhi Electoral Officer, enclosed details of the two voter ID cards registered in Khera’s name. It stated: “Notice to Shri Pawan Khera for getting himself registered in the Electoral Roll of more than one constituency.”
The development follows the disclosure of Khera’s alleged dual enrolment in the electoral rolls of New Delhi and Jangpura Assembly constituencies.
Khera, who heads the Congress party’s media and publicity department, responded to the revelation by turning the charge on the poll body. He said the matter only validated the party’s long-standing allegation of “vote chori” and pointed to a larger systemic failure within the Election Commission in preparing accurate electoral rolls.
Earlier in the day, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya posted photographs of voter lists from the two constituencies on X, claiming that Khera holds two active EPIC numbers. Malviya also linked the controversy to the Congress party’s broader campaign on voter list integrity.
“Rahul Gandhi screamed ‘Vote Chori’ from the rooftops. But just like he forgot to mention that his mother, Sonia Gandhi, enlisted herself in India’s voter list even before becoming an Indian citizen, it has now emerged that Pawan Khera, Congress spokesperson, who never misses a chance to flaunt his proximity to the Gandhis holds two active EPIC numbers (in Jangpura and New Delhi Assembly Constituencies, falling under East Delhi and New Delhi Lok Sabha seats respectively),” Malviya wrote.
Khera, in response, dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and directed the blame back at the EC. Speaking to IANS, he said: “Whether the question is raised by Anurag Thakur, Amit Malviya, or the Congress party, everything points to the Election Commission and the way it functions. That’s why the Congress is demanding transparency: Varanasi’s machine-readable voter list, Maharashtra’s booth-wise CCTV footage, we’re not getting any of these. That’s why we call it vote theft.”
Notably, Khera has been one of the Congress leaders most vocal in the party’s campaign against alleged voter fraud and the ongoing voter list revision process.
With IANS inputs