PANAJI, Sept. 25 -- Advocate Radharao Gracious has criticised the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that recent actions concerning electoral rolls have raised serious concerns about democratic rights.

Gracious said the primary responsibility of the Election Commission is to ensure free and fair elections and alleged that the present commission was not functioning in accordance with that role.

Referring to a report, he claimed that two Election Commissioners were not involved in a decision concerning the deletion of 13.98 crore voters. He described the reported figure as a serious concern and questioned how such a large-scale deletion could take place.

"If 10 to 15 per cent of voters have been deleted, it a...