Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during a press conference in New Delhi on February 7, 2025. | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
There are more registered voters in Maharashtra than the total adult population of the State and more voters were added in five months between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls than in the past five years, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi claimed on Friday (February 7, 2025).
Mr. Gandhi, addressing a joint press conference along with NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balashaeb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut at the Constitution Club, alleged that several “irregularities” took place in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
The Congress leader said the Opposition parties in Maharashtra suspect that the number of deletions are much more than the number of additions. Also, the names of many voters have been deleted or transferred ahead of the Assembly polls and most of these were from Dalit, tribal and minority communities, he added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, however, dismissed Mr. Gandhi’s allegations, claiming that his press conference a day before Delhi Assembly election results is to provide “cover fire” for the rout that the party will face in the national capital.
In his press conference, Mr. Gandhi demanded centralised data of voters’ list for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls and asserted that Opposition parties would move the court if the Election Commission (EC) does not provide it.
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“Between the 2019 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha election, 32 lakh voters were added to Maharashtra’s electoral rolls over five years. However, between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2024 Assembly elections, 39 lakh new voters were added in just five months,” Mr. Gandhi claimed.
“Why were more voters added after the Lok Sabha election? Who are these 39 lakh individuals? Notably, 39 lakh voters are equivalent to the entire voter population of Himachal Pradesh, added in a remarkably short period. Why did the EC add more voters in Maharashtra in five months than it did in five years?” he asked.
Pointing out that Maharashtra’s adult population is 9.54 crore while the voter population in the Assembly polls was 9.7 crore, Mr. Gandhi asked why there were more registered voters in the 2024 Assembly elections than the entire adult population of Maharashtra. He claimed that a majority of the voters who have been added have gone in the BJP’s favour as the Opposition parties have maintained their vote share in the Assembly polls.
The Opposition leader claimed that the voters list is dynamic and is constantly changing, and anyone can change it. “The nice way to say it is that the EC has lost control of the list. The bad way to say it is that the EC has manipulated the list.... Now, it’s the responsibility of the EC to come clean on what has happened,” he said.
Giving the example of Maharashtra’s Kamthi constituency, Mr. Gandhi claimed that the BJP’s margin of victory is nearly equal to the number of new voters added before the Assembly polls. He said the number of voters who voted for the three Opposition parties has not decreased between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
Ms. Sule pointed out that even after winning the election from Malshiras, her party’s MLA Uttam Jankar wanted that voting should be done through ballot paper and re-election should be held. “But the process was stopped by sending police there,” she said.
Mr. Raut said the EC should should answer the questions posed by Rahul Gandhi “if its conscience is still alive and does not want to be construed as a slave to the BJP”.
“Where did these 39 lakh votes come from and where will they go now? They will now go to Bihar. They are floating votes, the same names and Aadhar cards will remain. These voters keep travelling... They will go to Bihar and then to Uttar Pradesh... This is a new pattern now,” Mr. Raut said.
Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Mr. Fadnavis dismissed the allegations and said: “Mr. Gandhi is cover firing, he knows after Delhi results on February 8, nothing of Congress would be left in the Delhi. So, he is practising what to say on that day and what narrative to set.”
“I have always said Congress requires to do introspection instead of lying to themselves. Without that [introspection], revival of Congress is impossible,” the Chief Minister added.
The Empowered Acrion Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) after the press conference formally wrote to the Election Commission, asking for the final electoral photo roll of Lok Sabha 2014 and the Vidhan Sabha 2024 elections.
Published - February 07, 2025 01:50 pm IST
