Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of attempting to link access to social welfare schemes with voter identity cards, warning that the move, alongside the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, could deprive millions of people of both their voting rights and welfare entitlements.
In a strongly worded post on social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government was preparing to make voter ID, instead of Aadhaar, the basis for identifying beneficiaries of government schemes. Describing the alleged move as part of a “deep conspiracy” to influence elections and perpetuate the BJP’s hold on power, he questioned the consequences for people whose names might be deleted from electoral rolls.
“The Modi government’s minister has announced that benefits under government schemes will now be determined through voter ID and not Aadhaar,” he said.
Linking the reported proposal to the SIR exercise, Rahul Gandhi alleged that crores of names were being removed from electoral rolls and warned that the consequences could extend beyond the loss of voting rights if welfare benefits were also made dependent on electoral registration. He claimed that a disproportionate number of those affected belonged to sections of the electorate dissatisfied with the BJP.
Questioning the Election Commission’s independence, the Congress leader alleged that electoral rolls, which should be prepared and maintained under the supervision of an impartial constitutional authority, were effectively being controlled by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whom he accused of colluding with the BJP. He also claimed that the Congress had exposed evidence of alleged vote theft involving the ruling party and the election machinery.
“The preparation is under way for a list in which the BJP will always have a majority. And now that very list will determine whether you receive money under government schemes or not,” he alleged.
Warning of what he described as the potential political and social consequences, Rahul Gandhi said that citizens who chose to vote the BJP out of power in a future election could find their names selectively deleted from electoral rolls. “Name deleted, vote lost. Vote lost, rights lost,” he said, arguing that linking electoral registration with welfare eligibility could leave ordinary citizens vulnerable to exclusion.
He cautioned that the alleged proposal could eventually extend beyond Panchayati Raj schemes to essential welfare programmes covering ration, pensions, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), housing, scholarships and reservations.
“This is not politics to win elections. It is an arrangement to steal elections and establish a permanent mechanism to remain in power,” Rahul Gandhi alleged.
Emphasising that voting was a constitutional right and should not become a condition for receiving government assistance, he said, “A poor person’s pension cannot be made a slave of their voter card.”
“This is not just vote theft; it is theft of rights,” he declared, adding that the Congress would not allow such a situation to develop.
The controversy comes amid sustained Opposition criticism of the Election Commission’s SIR exercise, which the Congress and other Opposition parties have alleged could result in large-scale disenfranchisement, particularly among economically vulnerable and marginalised sections. The Opposition has repeatedly demanded greater transparency in the revision of electoral rolls and safeguards to ensure that no eligible voter is arbitrarily excluded.
Rahul Gandhi’s latest intervention brings together two contentious issues: the revision of electoral rolls and the reported proposal to use voter identity as a basis for determining eligibility for welfare schemes. If the two systems are formally linked, the implications could extend beyond electoral participation to access to essential public assistance.
However, the precise scope of the ministerial announcement cited by Rahul Gandhi, the schemes to which it would apply and the proposed implementation mechanism remain to be established through the government’s formal policy and guidelines. The distinction between voter registration as an identification mechanism and voter registration as a mandatory condition for welfare eligibility will therefore be central to assessing the implications of the reported proposal. (Agencies)
