Release voter rolls, CCTV footage: Rahul Gandhi pushes poll panel for transparency
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday intensified his demand for transparency from the Election Commission (EC), urging the constitutional body to release consolidated, digital voter rolls and post-5 pm CCTV footage from Maharashtra polling booths. His push comes amidst an ongoing back-and-forth with the poll panel, which has dismissed his allegations of "match-fixing" in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.Addressing the Election Commission directly, Rahul Gandhi stated, "Dear EC, You are a Constitutional body. Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions. If you have nothing to hide, answer the questions in my article and prove it by publishing consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states, including Maharashtra, and releasing all post-5pm CCTV footage from Maharashtra polling booths. Evasion won't protect your credibility. Telling the truth will."advertisementThe Election Commission on Saturday dismissed Rahul Gandhi's claims of last year's Maharashtra Assembly election results being rigged as vague and "completely absurd", issuing a point-by-point rebuttal to the Congress MP's voter fraud allegations.
The poll body said, "After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised is completely absurd."Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi, while sharing his op-ed in The Indian Express, claimed that the Maharashtra Assembly polls were conducted in a manner that favoured the BJP and alleged that the voter lists were inflated with fake voters.He further alleged that the law governing the appointment of Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner was amended to heavily favour the Centre by removing the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the panel responsible for their selection.advertisementThe Election Commission dismissed Rahul Gandhi's "match-fixing" claims, stating that the entire voting process was conducted transparently, with polling agents from all political parties present.The poll panel noted that Congress's authorised agents never raised any objections or complaints about abnormal voting. Calling Rahul Gandhi's allegations "unsubstantiated", the Election Commission reiterated that it had already responded to similar charges raised by the Congress shortly after losing the Maharashtra Assembly polls, stating, "The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to INC on December 24, 2024 itself which is available on EC's website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again."The Congress-led INDIA bloc suffered a humiliating loss in the Assembly elections last year, managing to win only 46 of the 288 seats, months after it had surpassed the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections.Following this dismal performance, Rahul Gandhi claimed that 70 lakh voters were mysteriously added to Maharashtra's electoral rolls between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. In response, the Election Commission shared data showing that 40.81 lakh voters were added in the five months between the two elections.Tune InMust Watch
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Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Saamna hints at Thackeray cousins getting together for municipal polls
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Hindustan Times
36 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Rahul's allegation of Maha poll rigging triggers BJP, EC retorts
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The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
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