The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday criticised US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal for questioning India’s electoral process, describing her remarks as “unwarranted and uninformed” and accusing her of interfering in the electoral practices of a fellow democracy.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal made the remarks during a media briefing in New Delhi, responding to Jayapal’s concerns over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
“We find the remarks of the Congresswoman unwarranted and uninformed and tantamount to interfering in the electoral practices of a fellow democracy. This is an approach that undermines democracy itself,” Jaiswal said.
Jayapal, a Democrat representing Washington state, had expressed concern over reports of large-scale deletions from India’s electoral rolls. In a post on X, she said she was “deeply concerned about the actions of the Indian government to purge 130 million people from the voting rolls”.
She also drew a comparison with actions by the Trump administration in the United States, arguing that voting rights and democratic institutions needed protection in both countries.
India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, had criticised Jayapal’s comments a day earlier, calling them “unacceptable interference in India’s internal affairs”. He said India had robust and independent constitutional institutions and a longstanding record of free and fair elections, while offering to engage with the congresswoman to address what he described as her misconceptions.
The exchange comes amid protests by Opposition parties and civil society groups against the SIR exercise. Critics have raised concerns that eligible voters could be excluded from electoral rolls, while the Election Commission has said the revision is intended to update voter lists and identify absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate entries.
The Commission has stated that lists were made public and shared with political parties, and that people whose names are deleted can apply for enrolment through the prescribed process.
Jayapal, who was born in Chennai, has previously criticised Indian government policies, including restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of its special status in 2019.