'Voters more than Maharashtra adult population': Rahul Gandhi alleges irregularities; EC says 'will respond in writing'

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, along with Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule, on Friday alleged discrepancies in the voter list for the recently concluded Maharashtra elections.
Addressing a joint press conference in the national capital, Rahul claimed that the opposition had uncovered "many irregularities" after scrutinising voter data.

Rahul said, "We represent on this table - the entire opposition that fought the last election in Maharashtra. We are going to bring some information about the election. We studied the details - the voters and the voting list. Our teams have been working, and we have found many irregularities."
Highlighting the numbers, the Congress leader alleged that while 32 lakh voters were added over five years between the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a 39 lakh voters were included in the rolls within just five months between the Lok Sabha elections and the Vidhan Sabha elections.
"The question is, who are these 39 lakh voters? That is equivalent to the total number of voters of Himachal Pradesh. The second point is, why are there more voters in Maharashtra than the entire voting population of the state? Somehow, the voters have been suddenly created in Maharashtra," he alleged.

Rahul further accused the Election Commission of ignoring repeated requests to investigate the anomalies. "We have been saying to the Election Commission that we are finding anomalies. We need the voter list—names and addresses of the voters of Maharashtra. We need the voter list of the Lok Sabha election. We need the voter list of the Vidhan Sabha election. Because we want to understand exactly who these new additions are," he said.
He also alleged that many voters, particularly those belonging to Dalit, tribal, and minority communities, had been deleted or relocated to different polling booths. "There are many, many, many voters that have been deleted. Voters who are in one booth have been transferred to another booth. Most of these voters come from Dalit communities, tribal communities, and minority communities," Rahul said.
"We have made repeated requests to the Election Commission. They have not answered us. The leader of the opposition has said this in Parliament House. The Election Commission has not responded. Now, the only reason they would not respond is that there is something wrong with what they have done. I am not making any accusations. I am presenting data here clearly," he added.

Responding to Rahul’s remarks, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said in a post on X, "ECI considers political parties as priority stakeholders, of course, the voters being the prime & deeply values views, suggestions, questions coming from political parties. Commission would respond in writing with full factual & procedural matrix uniformly adopted across the country."
Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegations, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "Election Commission has categorically replied to all the questions. Rahul Gandhi is doing a cover fire as he knows that after the February 8, Delhi Election results, his party will be nowhere in Delhi and hence, what he will speak on that day, how he will create a new narrative, he is practising for the same. If Rahul Gandhi does not introspect and will continue to console himself with lies - his party's revival isn't possible. Rahul Gandhi should introspect his defeat."