Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the Election Commission (EC) needs to answer the “grave and legitimate” questions raised by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on the 2024 Maharashtra polls.
“This lack of transparency from a constitutional body mandated to ensure free and fair elections is deeply concerning. The Congress Party, committed to upholding democratic values and electoral integrity, supports the critical questions raised by Shri and reiterates them publicly” Kharge said on X.
The article authored by Leader of Opposition Shri , published in multiple national and regional newspapers, raises grave and legitimate questions about the transparency and integrity of the electoral process, particularly in the context of the recently concluded 2024…
— (@kharge)
Questions raised by the Congress — ranging from an allegedly “unexplained” surge in the number of voters added to the electoral rolls and an alleged discrepancy in the voter turnout to the very process of the appointment of the Election Commissioner — still remain, Kharge said. The had accused Rahul of “peddling lies” to erode trust regarding the conduct of elections, claiming that he was making excuses for his party’s impending defeat in upcoming elections including Bihar.
In his post, Kharge sought to underline that between 2019 and early 2024, “only 31 lakh new voters were added in Maharashtra” yet 41 lakh new voters “appeared on the rolls in just the 5 months between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections”.
Kharge demanded post-5pm CCTV footage or videography to justify the 7% jump between the provisional turnout of 58.73% and the final turnout of 66%.
Alleging a dilution of the process of the appointment of the Election Commissioner, Kharge said the government amended the process by replacing the Chief Justice of India with the Union Home Minister on the appointment panel asking why the judiciary was removed from a process meant to ensure independence.
Asking why the EC was holding onto critical public data, he demanded why the final, updated electoral rolls for both the 2024 LS and 2024 Maharashtra elections have not been published.
“If the ECI has nothing to hide, then it must release… Consolidated, digital, and machine-readable voter rolls for both the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, with full version history and timestamps of updates…All post-5 PM CCTV footage or videography from polling booths across Maharashtra during the Assembly elections,” he said. “Transparency is not a favour, it is a constitutional obligation”.
While the Election Commission did not issue a statement in response to Gandhi and Kharge’s allegations, an EC official said Monday that the issues raised had been addressed in the EC’s reply to the Congress on December 24, 2024 which was in response to a November 29 Congress letter on the increase in electors.
