Congress Demands EC Probe of Maharashtra Assembly Election Data

New Delhi - The Congress party has called for an Election Commission (EC) investigation into alleged "serious and grave inconsistencies" in the Maharashtra Assembly Election data. In a letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, party leaders Nana Patole, Ramesh Chennithala, and Mukul Wasnik outlined concerns regarding voter roll manipulation and discrepancies in voter turnout figures. These concerns are not based on speculation but have been extracted from publicly available information released by the EC.

The party alleges that over 10,000 voters were added to each constituency's final voter lists after the deletion of arbitrary voters. This resulted in an "unprecedented increase" of approximately 47 lakh voters added to the electoral roll between July and November 2024, primarily benefiting the incumbent government, according to the Congress. The party also highlighted that concerns about Maharashtra's voter data had been raised by a former Chief Election Commissioner.

Citing reports from its allies and an FIR filed by a Voter Registration Officer in Tuljapur, the party claims these practices constitute electoral fraud. The FIR alleges the registration of a large number of fake voters between October 2 and 16. The Congress also pointed out that the issue was raised with the EC on October 19 but no action was taken.

Furthermore, the Congress raised concerns about a significant increase in the voting percentage between 5 p.m. and the final figure declared on November 23. Data from the EC shows a jump from 58.22% at 5 p.m. to 65.02% at 11:30 p.m., with a further increase to 66.05% before counting began. The party argues that casting over 70 lakh votes in the last hour of polling is statistically improbable.

The Congress emphasized the EC's constitutional responsibility to ensure the integrity of the electoral process and demanded a detailed public response addressing these discrepancies. The party also requested an urgent in-person hearing to discuss these and other constituency-specific issues.