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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP government of discrepancies in the Maharashtra assembly elections
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says 60000 votes were added in a building in Shirdi. (Courtesy: ANI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the Budget Session of Parliament on Monday, alleged that there were some voter discrepancies in Maharashtra Assembly polls.
He said that the voting population of Himachal Pradesh was added to the voter roll of Maharashtra.
“Between the Lok Sabha election which the INDIA Alliance won and the Vidhan Sabha election, the voting population of Himachal Pradesh was added to the voter roll of Maharashtra, meaning the entire population of Himachal Pradesh was added to the voter rolls of Maharashtra. Almost 70 lakh new voters suddenly arrived between Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections,” Gandhi said.
“The population of Himachal Pradesh extra has voted in Maharashtra. Interestingly, all new voters are in the constituencies where BJP has won,” Gandhi alleged.
“Almost 70 lakh new voters suddenly arrived between Lok Sabha and assembly elections. In a single building in Shirdi, over 7,000 voters were added. There is something problematic in all this,” he added.
Gandhi said that he had not made any baseless claims and repeatedly appealed to the election commission regarding the same.
“We have asked them for the list of voters in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha. This list has not been provided to us, despite multiple requests,” he said.
Gandhi further said that rules had been changed and earlier the Election Commission was chosen by a panel of the prime minister, leader of the opposition and chief Justice. “So why is it that the Chief Justice was removed?” he said.
Gandhi said that Congress and the opposition demanded voter lists of the Maharashtra and Haryana elections, however, the EC did not share it.
“I want to ask you why would the Election Commission refuse to give us voters’ lists of the Maharashtra election. What purpose is served by not giving us and the rest of the opposition the voter lists of the Maharashtra Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections? Why will it damage the EC? Why are they not giving us the list?” he said.
In the Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP-led Mahayuti came to power after clinching 235 out of 288 seats. BJP alone won nearly 132 seats.
