Rahul Gandhi accuses poll body for 'deleting evidence', calls polls 'fixed match'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the Election Commission (EC) of "deleting evidence" instead of giving answers, after the poll body directed its officers to destroy CCTV, webcast, and video footage of elections 45 days after polling, if the results are not challenged in court.In a post on X, Gandhi said, 'Voter list? Will not give a machine-readable format. CCTV footage? Hidden by changing the law. Election photos and videos? Now they will be deleted in 45 days, not 1 year. The one who was supposed to provide answers – is the one deleting the evidence.'advertisementHe added, 'It is clear that the match is fixed. And a fixed election is poison for democracy.'
The Congress leader's statement came after the EC instructed its state poll officers to destroy all such data after 45 days unless a legal challenge to the result is filed. Gandhi has been demanding voter lists, polling data, and video footage, particularly in connection with alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.In a letter dated May 30 to state Chief Electoral Officers, the EC said it had been using photography, videography, CCTV, and webcasting to record various stages of the election process. These recordings are not required by electoral law but serve as internal management tools.However, the EC said that it has now reviewed the practice due to the "recent misuse of this content by non-contestants to spread misinformation and malicious narratives on social media by selective and out-of-context use of such content, which will not lead to any legal outcome."advertisement"Sharing of the footage, which would enable easy identification of the electors by any group or an individual, would leave both the elector who has voted and the elector who has not voted vulnerable to pressure, discrimination and intimidation by anti-social elements," Election Commission sources said.The EC also said that making public CCTV footage from polling booths would violate the legal provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the directions of the Supreme Court of India.In December last year, the government tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV cameras and webcasting footage as well as video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse.According to the new instructions, if no election petition is filed within 45 days, the footage and images can be destroyed. An election petition must be filed in the relevant high court within 45 days of result declaration.Officials clarified that if a petition is filed, the data is preserved and made available to the court when required.Tune InMust Watch
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