‘Irrefutable from EC’s own knowledge’: Congress doubles down on Maharashtra poll fraud cost; seeks footage | India News

Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge (C) and Sonia Gandhi (R)

NEW DELHI: The Congress celebration has formally responded to the Election Commission (EC) with an in depth letter elevating critical questions concerning the polling course of. This comes days after former celebration president and chief of opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, flagged what he referred to as “vote theft” in Maharashtra meeting polls.The letter highlighted considerations: a “huge increase in electors and voters” between the May 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the November 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections in Maharashtra, and an “inexplicable upsurge in polling after 5pm on election day.”“It is irrefutable from EC’s own data that there were more new electors added between the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections held in May and the Vidhan Sabha elections held in November, the same year, than there were in the prior five full years between 2019 assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” the letter reads.Calling for transparency, the Congress has demanded that the EC present a “machine-readable, digital copy of the Maharashtra voter lists and video footage of the polling day of Maharashtra and Haryana within a week from the date of this letter.” It additional added, “This has been a long-standing request that should be easy for the EC to comply with. The Congress party leadership will be happy to meet with the EC soon after we have received these. In that meeting, we will even present our analysis findings to you.”Earlier, in response to Rahul Gandhi’s opinion piece in a newspaper, the Election Commission had refuted the allegations and reaffirmed that each one elections are carried out “strictly in accordance with laws passed by Parliament and established rules.”The poll physique additionally underlined the size of the electoral course of, noting it includes hundreds of personnel, together with booth-level brokers appointed by totally different political events.“We presume that any issue regarding conduct of elections would have already been raised through election petitions filed in the competent court of law (high court) by the INC candidates,” the EC wrote to Rahul Gandhi, in response to information company PTI. “However, if you still have any issues, you are welcome to write to us and the Commission is also willing to meet you in person at a mutually convenient date and time to discuss all issues,” it added.Despite the poll physique’s clarification, Rahul Gandhi reiterated his cost, insisting that the irregularities weren’t mere glitches however a scientific try at “vote theft,” and renewed his demand for the fast launch of the digital voter rolls and CCTV footage.

Several allies of the Congress have additionally repeatedly voiced considerations over the conduct of the Maharashtra elections.