EC rejects Rahul Gandhi's charge of rigging in Maharashtra elections

Business Standard

6 hours ago

Sources in the Election Commission (EC) rejected claims on Saturday of rigging in last year's Maharashtra Assembly polls and said defaming the poll panel after receiving an unfavourable verdict from the voters is absolutely absurd.
The EC sources were responding to an article written by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, alleging "match-fixing" in the Maharashtra polls.
They said any misinformation being spread by anyone brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by political parties during elections and demotivates lakhs of poll staff who work tirelessly for the gigantic exercise.
They pointed out that unsubstantiated allegations raised against the electoral rolls of Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law.
Underscoring that match-fixed elections are a "poison" for any democracy, Gandhi wrote that the side that cheats may win the game, but it damages institutions and destroys public faith.
In a post on X, the Congress leader outlined the alleged electoral irregularities in a stepwise manner -- fake voters added, the voter turnout inflated, bogus voting facilitated and evidence subsequently hidden.
Rejecting the claims, the sources underlined that 6,40,87,588 (over 6.4 crore) voters who reached the polling stations between 7 am and 6 pm exercised their franchise in the Maharashtra polls.
About 58 lakh votes, on an average, were polled every hour, they said.
Going by the average trend, nearly 1.16 crore voters could have voted in the last two hours, the sources added.
"Therefore, the casting of 65 lakh votes by electors in two hours is much below the average hourly voting trend," an EC functionary pointed out.
The sources noted that the voting progressed in the presence of the polling agents formally appointed by the candidates or political parties at every polling booth.
The Congress candidates or their authorised agents had not raised "any substantiated allegation" regarding any kind of abnormal voting at the time of scrutiny before the returning officers and election observers the next day, they pointed out.
On the issue of alleged fudging of electoral data, the sources said voter lists in India, including in Maharashtra, were prepared according to the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
According to the laws, either just before an election or once every year, a special summary revision of the electoral rolls is conducted and its final copy handed over to all national or state political parties.
After the finalisation of the electoral rolls for the Maharashtra election, as against the 9,77,90,752 (over 9.77 crore) electors, only 89 appeals were filed before the first appellate authority -- the district magistrate concerned -- and only one was filed before the second appellate authority -- the state chief electoral officer.
"Therefore, it is amply clear that there was no grievance of the Congress or any other political party before the conduct of the Maharashtra Assembly election in 2024," the EC functionary said.
During the voter-list revision, for more than one lakh polling booths, along with the 97,325 booth-level officers appointed by the electoral registration officers, 1,03,727 (over 1.03 lakh) booth-level agents were also appointed by all political parties.
These included the 27,099 booth-level agents appointed by the Congress.
The sources said more than one lakh booth-level officers of Maharashtra are still waiting for such "wild allegations" to be converted into at least one single real appeal before district magistrates in accordance with the election law against discrepancies in the voters' list.
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