NEW DELHI: The Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SS on Friday alleged irregularities in the voter lists of Maharashtra, claiming that a total of 39 lakh voters were added between Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state.
Addressing a joint press conference here, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that the total number of voters added in Maharashtra was equivalent to the population of a state like Himachal Pradesh, and urged the Election Commission to provide them list of voters and come clean on the issue.
He claimed the majority of the voters added have gone in the BJP's favour as the opposition parties have maintained their vote share in the assembly polls.
Flanked by NCP-SS's Supriya Sule and Sena's Sanjay Raut, Gandhi said the adult population of Maharashtra is 9.54 crore as per government data while the voter population of the state is 9.7 crore. There are more voters in Maharashtra than total adult population of state, alleged Rahul Gandhi.
He said while 39 lakh voters were added in Maharashtra in five months after LS polls, as much as 32 lakh votes were added in the state in the previous five years between 2019 and 2024.
He said if the EC does not provide the voter lists of assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, it poses a serious question.
"We are now heading towards complete destruction of Constitution. But, we are in the business of protecting the Constitution," Gandhi told reporters. He said the next step would be to knock at the doors of the judiciary.
"It is surprising to me that the EC is not ready to give us voter lists and the only reason possible is that there is something wrong and they know it," Gandhi claimed.
Raut said, "If the EC is alive and is not dead, it should answer questions posed by Rahul Gandhi. Otherwise it will be construed that EC is slave to the government."
The EC should bring transparency, he added.
The Election Commission said it will respond with full facts in writing.
Soon after Gandhi levelled the allegation, the poll body said in a post on X, "ECI considers political parties, as priority stake holders, of course the voters being the prime and deeply values views, suggestions, questions coming from political parties."
"Commission would respond in writing with full factual & procedural matrix uniformly adopted across the country," it said without naming Gandhi or referring to his allegations.
Devendra Fadnavis reacts
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis rejected Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's allegation of irregularities in the state voter list, saying the claim stems from his party's imminent defeat in the Delhi assembly polls.
Talking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis, a senior BJP leader, maintained the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha needs to introspect otherwise there will be no revival of the Congress.
"Rahul Gandhi is doing cover firing after sensing huge defeat for the Congress in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections," he told reporters soon after three opposition parties alleged irregularities in the voter list of Maharashtra.
Results of the assembly polls in Delhi, where voting took place on February 5, will be declared on February 8 (Saturday).
Fadnavis maintained the EC has already answered all questions regarding the increase in voters in Maharashtra.
