Rahul Alleges Irregularities In Maha Voter Registration

Names of many voters have been deleted or transferred ahead of the assembly polls and most of these were from Dalit, tribal and minority communities -Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader

New Delhi: Alleging ‘numerous irregularities’ in the Maharashtra polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed there were more registered voters than the entire State’s adult population, and that more voters were added in five months between the Lok Sabha and State polls than in the five years before that. He also asserted that if the demand to the Election Commission by the State’s Opposition parties - Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP -- to be given centralised data of voters’ list for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and the assembly polls 2024, is not met, the next step would be to approach the judiciary.

Addressing a joint press conference with Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut and NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, Gandhi also alleged that names of many voters have been deleted or transferred ahead of the assembly polls and most of these were from Dalit, tribal and minority communities. He said the Opposition parties in Maharashtra suspect that the number of deletions are much more than the number of additions.

“What we have found regarding the Maharashtra elections raises several questions for the Election Commission. Between the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 32 lakh voters were added to Maharashtra’s electoral rolls over five years. However, between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections, 39 lakh new voters were added in just five months,” Gandhi claimed at the press conference at the Constitution Club here.

“Why were more voters added after the Lok Sabha elections? Who are these 39 lakh individuals? Notably, 39 lakh voters are equivalent to the entire voter population of Himachal Pradesh, added in a remarkably short period,” he said.

Why did the EC add more voters in Maharashtra in five months than it did in five years, Gandhi asked. Pointing out that Maharashtra’s adult population is 9.54 crore while the voter population in the assembly polls was 9.7 crore, Gandhi asked why there were more registered voters in the assembly elections 2024 than the entire adult population of Maharashtra.

“Another concern is that there are more registered voters in Maharashtra than the State’s actual voting population. According to the government, Maharashtra’s adult population is 9.54 crore. Yet, the Election Commission reports more voters in Maharashtra than its adult population. This discrepancy raises questions about how these voters were created,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

He claimed majority of the voters added have gone in the BJP’s favour as the Opposition parties have maintained their vote share in the assembly polls. Gandhi also cited the example of Maharashtra’s Kamthi constituency, saying the BJP’s margin of victory is nearly equal to the number of new voters added.

“The EC must answer these questions and provide us with the electoral rolls of Maharashtra of both Lok Sabha 2024 elections and assembly polls 2024,” he said. He also pointed out that the number of voters who voted for the three Opposition parties has not decreased between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.

“We have been asking the Election Commission for the voters’ list of both the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Why is the Election Commission not responding to our request,” he asked.