Assign unique EPIC number to every voter, TMC tells poll panel
Times of India | 7 March 2025
123 Kolkata: Trinamool on Thursday asked the Election Commission to introduce unique Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) for all voters, questioning the rationale behind its absence when the same thing was in place for Aadhaar cards and passports.
In a deputation to the EC, the party apprised it how EPICs of Bengal voters shared the same EPIC numbers with voters from other states. TMC is also likely to raise the issue in Parliament.
After a meeting of Trinamool's core committee on Thursday, a party delegation called on Bengal's acting CEO Dibyendu Das. State finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said: "Laws are very clear on this. If EPICs have a unique ID, these issues would not have been there in the first place. What we are witnessing is that in an extra-legal manner, in several states EPIC card-holders are being given an alpha-numeric number, which is common with voters in other states. They (EC) are bending rules."
Kolkata mayor and senior state minister Firhad Hakim said: "Earlier, EPICs specified which assembly or parliamentary constituency we could vote from. Now, by introducing this (alpha-numeric code), they are reducing everything to a farce. If Aadhaar, passport and PAN can all have unique IDs, why not EPICs? This was our demand. This must be done or else we will, under CM Mamata Banerjee's leadership, launch a bigger protest."
State power minister Aroop Biswas said: "Voters of different states have same EPICs. Why is the EC silent? What is the conspiracy behind it? They must wake up from their slumber and allow people to cast their votes freely."
Trinamool will raise the issue of voter ID number duplication in the second half of Parliament's budget session that starts on Monday, party's Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said. "Another issue that is bound to play out on the floor of Parliament is the Election Commission of India's alleged involvement in voter ID duplication. This is not a minor clerical error, it is a serious matter having a bearing on free and fair elections," he posted in a blog.
O'Brien said EPIC number was linked to voter details and a duplicate number would lead to denial of voting rights. The EC needed to disclose how many duplicate EPICs exist in the system and how they got assigned, he added. "Why is the EC still unable to ensure unique EPIC numbers for every voter?" he said.
TMC state president Subrata Bakshi chaired Thursday's core committee meet. The party's national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, did not attend it but he would meet all district functionaries on this issue on March 15 in a virtual session. The party also issued several guidelines to its workers, including detailing every non-eligible voter in Bengal and voters with duplicate EPIC and ensuring inclusion of genuine voters whose name have been deleted.