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  3. OPINION | Maharashtra electoral rolls manipulation: What’s the factual position?

OPINION | Maharashtra electoral rolls manipulation: What’s the factual position?

Rahul Gandhi has questioned the results of the Maharashtra elections by alleging that 70 lakh voters were added in the intervening period of five months between LS and assembly polls. The Congress party had written a long letter to the Election Commission, and the poll body replied in 66 pages.

Aaj Ki Baat with Rajat Sharma.
Aaj Ki Baat with Rajat Sharma. Image Source : India tv
New DelhiPublished: , Updated:

In his one-hour-long speech in Lok Sabha on Monday, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi levelled several allegations, like China “sitting over 4,000 sq km of our land”,  and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visiting the US “to get an invitation for Prime Minister Modi” to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration event. However, his most serious clear charge was related to the recently held Maharashtra assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi alleged that “between the Lok Sabha polls, which the I.N.D.I.A bloc won, and in the assembly elections, the number of nearly 70 lakh voters, equivalent to the population of Himachal Pradesh was added in the Maharashtra electoral rolls during the period of five months.

Rahul Gandhi alleged, “more voters were added in five months compared to the last five years in Maharashtra.” He cited an example alleging that nearly 7,000 new voters were added in one building in Shirdi after the Lok Sabha polls. Rahul Gandhi said, “We have repeatedly requested the Election Commission to give us the Lok Sabha voters' list and that of the Vidhan Sabha. We are telling the Election Commission to 'please give us names and addresses of voters of all booths from the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly elections' so that we can calculate who these voters are."

The Leader of Opposition alleged that the new voters were added mostly in those constituencies where the BJP candidates eventually won.  He demanded that the Election Commission must give the data about Maharashtra elections to the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP(Sharad Pawar) parties so that these parties can check exactly where new voters were added and where names of voters were deleted.

Rahul Gandhi said, “In order to safeguard our Constitution, the entire opposition is requesting data from the EC on Maharashtra electoral rolls”. The Congress leader also raised the issue of selection of Election Commissioners. “Earlier, the selection committee consisted of the PM, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India, but later the government removed the Chief Justice from the committee and added the Home Minister. This raises a crucial question for the Prime Minister. Why was this change made?”

Rahul Gandhi went on: “In a few days, I will be attending the meeting of this selection committee where Mr Amit Shah and Mr Narendra Modi will be there, but it is like an uneven playing field, with a 2:1 ratio. What’s the point of my attending this meeting? Am I merely there to rubber-stamp what Modi ji and Amit Shah ji propose? The presence of the Chief Justice would have facilitated a more balanced discussion… To remove the CJI from the committee seems to be part of a deliberate strategy.”

The moot point is: Rahul Gandhi has questioned the results of Maharashtra elections by alleging that 70 lakh voters were added in the intervening period of five months between LS and assembly polls. The Congress party had written a long letter to the Election Commission, and the poll body replied in 66 pages. The Election Commission countered the Congress' charges regarding the alleged addition of 50,000 electors between July and November 2024 in 50 Assembly constituencies (ACs), 47 of which were allegedly won by the Mahayuti coalition.

The Election Commission clarified that only six constituencies saw an increase of over 50,000 electors during this period. Therefore, the assumption that the results in 47 assembly constituencies were influenced by this factor is inaccurate, the EC said. The EC also provided a detailed explanation of the transparent and regulated process of updating electoral rolls, which involves political parties at every stage. The Commission, in its reply to the Congress party, had said that the preparation of electoral rolls was a meticulous, transparent, and participatory process. All political parties, including Congress, are involved at each stage of the updation process. Any additions or deletions of voters are carried out strictly in accordance with the rules, with full participation from political parties, the EC had said.

On the allegation that 70 lakh new voters were added, the Election Commission described the figure as inaccurate. The EC said that 41 lakh new voters were added, out of which 26 lakh new voters were those who had attained the minimum voting age. Among them, nine lakh voters were in the 18-19 years age group. They were young first-time voters who had added their names to the electoral list.

The Election Commission analysed that out of nearly one lakh polling booths in Maharashtra, if 40 voters are added per polling booth on an average, then the figure of 41 lakh new voters cannot be described as surprising. From time to time, the Election Commission carries out revision of electoral rolls. In 2018, when the revision of electoral rolls took place, more than 28 lakh voters were added within two months in Maharashtra. Nobody raised any questions at that time. It is surprising that Rahul Gandhi had the point-wise rebuttal sent by the Election Commission in his hand, in which each query was answered, and yet he tried to make it an issue in his speech.

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