Alleging that “vote theft” took place in the Maharashtra Assembly elections held in November, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday demanded the immediate release of machine-readable digital voter rolls and CCTV footage.

The leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha made the statements after a Newslaundry report, which said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ constituency saw an 8% increase in voters between the Lok Sabha elections, held in May and June 2024, and the Assembly polls.

“Some booths saw 20-25% surge [in number of voters],” said Gandhi.

He questioned whether the poll body is “silent or complicit” in this alleged “vote theft”. “The cover-up is the confession,” he added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance had defeated the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes the Congress, in the Assembly polls.

Gandhi has consistently been demanding access to voter lists, polling data and election footage, alleging irregularities in the elections.

His statements on Tuesday came days after the Election Commission wrote to him, saying all polls are held by it strictly as per laws passed by Parliament and rules, The Hindu reported.

In an email sent to Gandhi on June 12, the poll body said: “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.”

In February, the Congress had urged the Election Commission to explain how the number of registered voters (9.7 crore) for the Maharashtra Assembly polls was more than the adult population of the state (9.5 crore).

At the time, Gandhi had also urged the poll panel to explain why more voters were added to the state’s electoral rolls in the period between the Lok Sabha election and the Assembly polls than in the preceding five years.

The Election Commission had then said that attempts to defame it by parties that got an unfavourable verdict from voters were “completely absurd”.

In an article published in The Indian Express on June 7, Gandhi reiterated allegations that there had been “match-fixing” in the Maharashtra polls. He alleged that there had been an “industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions” during the elections.

Fadnavis on Tuesday dismissed Gandhi’s allegations as a sign that the “pain of Maharashtra’s crushing defeat is growing day by day”.

The Maharashtra chief minister also refuted the reports of voter manipulation and claimed that candidates from the Congress or its allied parties won in over 25 constituencies where voter numbers rose by more than 8%.

“In West Nagpur, next to my own South West seat, voter count rose by 7% (27,065) and Congress candidate Vikas Thakre won,” he said in a social media post.

The chief minister added that in North Nagpur, where there was a 7% rise (29,348) in voters, the Congress’ Nitin Raut secured victory.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule demanded that objections pertaining to the Maharashtra polls be discussed in Parliament, The Indian Express reported.

Sule said there is a need to address “many issues and questions” and ensure transparent administration. “The discussion is needed to bring checks and balances to avoid anything in future,” the newspaper quoted Sule as saying.

Also read: Election conduct rules amended at lightning speed despite objection by law officers, documents show