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Top ex babus back EC, SIR
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New Delhi: A total of 124 former IAS, IFS and allied services' officers have issued an open letter to the citizens of India, strongly defending the Election Commission (EC) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, while questioning allegations of vote rigging without credible evidence.
Highlighting India's transformation from an era of booth capturing, ballot-box stuffing and poll violence, the officers said today's electoral system has multiple layers of checks and safeguards, including polling agents, EVM sealing, strong-room security and VVPAT verification. They cited last year's Bihar Assembly polls, which recorded no re-polling and the highest voter turnout since 1951. "A system cannot be honest when you win and rigged when you lose," the letter said, pointing out that under the same EC, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre lost several state polls as well as its parliamentary majority in 2024.
The signatories to the letter include former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal and former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers R D Kapur, Samirendra Chatterjee, Gopal Krishna, Vivek Bhardwaj and Navneet Sehgal.
