Congress accuses BJP of 'hera pheri' with GenZ voting rights

Congress leader Dr Ragini Nayak on Saturday accused the BJP-led government of trying to keep young and first-time voters out of electoral rolls by allegedly stopping the Special Summary Revision (SSR) process. Addressing a Congress party briefing at the AICC office in New Delhi, Nayak targeted Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that he was acting as a “puppet” of government.

Nayak alleged that the move had created doubts about the electoral process and accused the government of attempting “vote chori” and “election chori”. She questioned why registration camps for new voters were being organised while, according to her, the SSR process had been stopped.

Referring to young and first-time voters, Nayak said the country’s youth, students and Gen Z were aware of their political power. She alleged that the government was afraid of young voters and was trying to ensure that their names were not included in the electoral rolls.


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Nayak also questioned the process for registering first-time voters, referring to Form 6 and the requirement to provide details concerning family members and previous electoral registration. She alleged that changes to the form could not be made arbitrarily and referred to the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. She said first-time voters should be able to register without harassment or unnecessary obstacles.

She further alleged that the government was attempting to conduct registration camps in colleges, universities and schools as a “hogwash” while, according to her, the broader voter-registration process remained affected. Nayak said the Congress would continue raising the issue and urged young people to exercise their democratic rights.

Nayak also attacked the Modi government over its messaging to Gen Z, saying the prime minister had moved from addressing people as “Mitron” to “Hi Friends” on Instagram. She said Gen Z understood the political situation and would not be influenced by such changes in communication.

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She also criticised the government over education and NEET paper leaks. Nayak credited the Manmohan Singh government with bringing the Right to Education and providing free education to children up to the age of 14. She alleged that education spending had subsequently declined and accused the government of pushing privatisation and allowing political influence in university appointments.

On NEET, Nayak alleged that paper leaks had affected students and referred to protests by students at Jantar Mantar. She accused the government of failing to adequately address the concerns of students affected by the examination issue.

Nayak said the Congress would continue to raise issues concerning young voters, electoral registration, education and students, while accusing the government of attempting to prevent Gen Z and first-time voters from exercising their electoral rights.