Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called for a return to paper-ballot voting at an INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on September 30. The Indian Express and NDTV reported his address that day as opposition parties discussed their response to the controversy over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of voter lists.
Kharge sought use of pre-revision electoral rolls, greater transparency about additions and deletions, and notice, reasons and an effective appeal before an eligible voter is removed. He also urged protection against exclusion caused by administrative failures or inadequate documentation. NDTV reported his proposal to make registration simpler for first-time voters.
The meeting brought together representatives of several opposition parties. Kharge’s proposals and accusations concern the functioning of election authorities; they do not establish that electoral manipulation occurred. The reviewed reports did not show that a return to paper ballots or restoration of earlier rolls had been adopted as election policy.
In a separate September 30 report, NDTV quoted unnamed government and poll-panel sources rejecting the opposition criticism. They described the revision as a lawful verification exercise aimed at removing deceased, duplicate or shifted entries while retaining eligible voters. The dispute therefore remains one between contested political claims and the authorities’ defence of the process, with no new voting-rule change confirmed here.