Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has exposed before the nation the collusion between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission in committing “vote theft” and the massive irregularities in Maharashtra’s Assembly election voter list. While it is already a serious issue that 41 lakh voters were added in the four months between the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections, Congress senior spokesperson Sachin Sawant has now questioned how 6,55,709 voters were added within just four days — between October 16 and October 19 — citing the Election Commission’s own data.
Speaking on the issue, Sachin Sawant said that according to the Election Commission’s figures, there were 9,29,43,890 registered voters in Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha elections. Subsequently, after scrutiny of the rolls by the Central Election Commission, till August 30, 2024, the number rose to 9,53,74,302, meaning an increase of 24 lakh voters during that period.
Thereafter, voter registration continued across the state, and on October 15, 2024, when the Chief Electoral Officer announced the assembly election, it was declared that Maharashtra had 9,63,69,410 voters.
As per the Central Election Commission’s registration procedure, voter registration remains open until ten days before the first date for filing nomination papers. After that, an eight-day scrutiny is conducted, and the final supplementary voter list is published on the first day of filing nominations.
Accordingly, since October 29 was the first day for filing nominations, voter registration was open till October 19 — that is, the registration period between October 16 and October 19 remained active. After this, registration stopped for scrutiny, and the final supplementary list was published on October 30, 2024, showing a total of 9,70,25,119 voters.
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This means that in just four days, an unusually large number of voters were added, which raises serious doubts. Questions must be asked about this sudden spike, especially since voter registration had been ongoing throughout the year, since before the Lok Sabha elections. Such a massive surge in registrations immediately after the announcement of assembly elections is unprecedented, and the Election Commission must answer for it, said Sachin Sawant.
Sawant further stated that this same defective voter list, which has now been extended up to July 1, 2025, has created deep suspicions and raised serious questions about its credibility. Furthermore, this voter list is not being made available to opposition parties, nor are they being given an opportunity to file objections against it.
“This approach is harmful to the democratic process itself, and therefore, the stand taken by the opposition parties on this issue is absolutely justified,” he added. |
