New Delhi: The Election Commission issued a notice to Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday, September 2, acting promptly hours after the BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya alleged that he held EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) numbers. The EC’s action came in spite of a swift response from Khera in which he contended having requested the EC to delete his name from New Delhi constituency through Form 7 nine years ago in 2016. The row between Malviya and Khera, followed by EC’s notice to the latter, comes on the heels of allegations of irregularities, levelled by leader of opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in the voter rolls of Karnataka’s Mahadevapura. The EC had asked Gandhi to file an affidavit, substantiating his allegations, but hasn’t taken any action on the matter. Contrastingly, the poll body’s notice to Khera was prompt and urgent. On Tuesday, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya alleged that while Gandhi had raised allegations of “vote theft”, his close aide Khera, who is also a spokesperson for the Congress holds two EPIC numbers and said that it is now for the Election Commission to investigate “whether he voted multiple times – a clear violation of electoral laws.”“As if the criminality of holding multiple votes isn’t enough, Pawan Khera is holding malicious press conferences in Bihar to mislead voters, create dissonance, and undermine India’s robust electoral process,” Malviya said.“For the record: Rahul Gandhi still hasn’t submitted a formal complaint under oath to demand an investigation into the fake allegations he made regarding Mahadevapura Assembly in Bengaluru. Not to mention, the Supreme Court has already dismissed the case alleging wrongdoing in Maharashtra,” he added.Khera, in a statement, hit back saying he had given an application under Form 7 to delete his name from the New Delhi constituency in 2016, and that Malviya’s claim had only “conceded” that the Election Commission had “ failed to maintain the integrity of the electoral rolls”, indicating that the EC may not have looked into his Form 7 request.Hours later, the New Delhi District Election Office (DEO) issued a notice to Khera under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, directing him to explain by September 8, why action should not be taken against him for the alleged dual registration, which is an offence.It did not, however, make any mention of whether an affidavit had been provided by Malviya or his party BJP on its allegations, just as one had been asked of Gandhi following his allegations of vote theft in Karnataka.On August 7, Gandhi had alleged that over one lakh votes were stolen in Mahadevapura assembly constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi said that 1,00,250 votes were “stolen” through five ways – 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 voters with fake and invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters or single address voters, 4,132 voters with invalid photos and 33,692 voters misusing Form 6, which is used for the registration of new voters.The Election Commission asked him to provide his allegations under oath under 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, so the claims can be investigated. The Wire has reported that rule 20(3)(b) applies to claims and objections raised after the preparation of draft rolls following a revision exercise by the Election Commission.Almost a month on, the Election Commission is yet to initiate an investigation into his allegations.While a notice was issued to Khera, it is not clear whether the Election Commission sought an affidavit from Malviya or the BJP. Last month, the chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had reiterated the demand of an oath from Gandhi to probe his allegations but made no mention of the irregularities raised BJP MP Anurag Thakur, who also alleged irregularities in voter rolls in Rae Bareli, Wayanad, Diamond Harbour and Kannauj, asking Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Abhishek Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav to resign as Lok Sabha MPs.As the election process comes under scrutiny, read The Wire’s coverage of the Bihar SIR, opposition’s allegations and more, here