Rahul Gandhi questions 9.7cr turnout against 9.4cr eligible voters in Maharashtra

The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, questioned the addition of 39 lakh voters in five months before the election, pointing out that while the total eligible voters in Maharashtra are 9.4 crore, 9.7 crore people cast their votes in the recently held Assembly elections, alluding to a possible discrepancy in the voting.

Though Rahul Gandhi stated that he was not accusing the Election Commission of India, he sought clarification on the matter, urging them to release the final voters' list for the 9.7 crore turnout in the Assembly election, while the total eligible voter population is 9.54 crore.

He also pointed out that 32 lakh voters had been added to the electoral roll between the 2019 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, followed by an additional 39 lakh voters in just five months before the Assembly elections in 2024. As the Leader of the Opposition, he claimed to have raised this issue in Parliament, but the EC had not responded.

“In 5 years between the Vidhan Sabha elections in 2019 and Lok Sabha, 2024 - 32 lakh voters were added. However, in 5 months between Lok Sabha 2024 which these parties (Congress, NCP-SCP, Shiv Sena (UBT)) won and Vidhan Sabha elections - 39 lakh voters were added. The question is, who are these 39 lakh voters?” Rahul Gandhi said speaking to the press.

"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 additional are... 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,” Gandhi said.

In response to Gandhi's allegations, the Election Commission stated it would provide the requested information in writing, offering a detailed factual and procedural explanation. The poll body underscored its commitment to transparency and stated that it values the concerns raised by political parties, considering them priority stakeholders. The EC assured that it would respond with the full matrix of procedures uniformly followed across the country.

Earlier, Gandhi had levelled two specific allegations related to the Maharashtra elections. He claimed that 70 lakh voters had been added to the state's electoral rolls in a mere five months, from the Lok Sabha to the Assembly elections, and that an unusual number of new voters—7,000—had been registered from the same address in Shirdi.

The Congress party had raised similar concerns with the EC shortly after the Assembly election results were announced. They pointed out a "shocking" 13% increase in the number of electors in Maharashtra compared to the Lok Sabha elections, calling for the raw data behind the 39 lakh additions.

In its response, the EC explained that there had been 48,81,620 additions and 8,00,391 deletions, resulting in a net increase of 40,81,229 electors. The Commission attributed much of the increase to young voters, particularly in the 18-29 age group, and insisted that there were no abnormal trends in the changes to the voter rolls.