Last Updated:
Fadnavis pointed out that voter turnout increased by over 8% between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in more than 25 constituencies, and Congress won the majority of seats
Rahul Gandhi has claimed that there weren’t isolated glitches but “vote theft” and demanded the immediate release of machine-readable digital voter rolls as well as CCTV footage. (Photo: PTI file)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of voter list manipulation in the state, where the BJP-led alliance scored a massive victory in assembly polls last year.
Fadnavis pointed out that voter turnout increased by over 8% between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in more than 25 constituencies, and Congress won the majority of seats. He also cited examples of seats of West Nagpur, North Nagpur, Wadgaon Sheri in Pune district, Malad West and Mumbra, where Congress and its allies emerged victorious.
झूठ बोले कौवा काटेकाले कौवे से डरियो…राहुल गांधी,माना की महाराष्ट्र की करारी हार की आपकी पीड़ा दिन प्रतिदिन बढ़ती जा रही है.लेकिन कब तक हवा में तीर चलाते रहोगे?वैसे आप की जानकारी के लिए, महाराष्ट्र में ऐसे 25 से अधिक चुनाव क्षेत्र है जहाँ 8% से अधिक मतदाता लोकसभा और… https://t.co/YtpuKNeUNE
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) June 24, 2025
‘Vote Theft in 2024 Maharashtra Polls’: Rahul Gandhi
Flagging alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi has claimed that there weren’t isolated glitches but “vote theft” and demanded the immediate release of machine-readable digital voter rolls as well as CCTV footage.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha shared on X a media report which claimed that in just six months between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Maharashtra assembly polls, Nagpur South West — the seat held by BJP leader and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis — added 29,219 new voters.
“In Maharashtra CM’s own constituency, the voter list grew by 8% in just 5 months. Some booths saw a 20-50% surge. BLOs reported unknown individuals casting votes,” Gandhi said in his post.
“Media uncovered thousands of voters with no verified address. And the EC? Silent — or complicit. These aren’t isolated glitches. This is vote theft. The cover-up is the confession,” he said.
“That’s why we demand the immediate release of machine-readable digital voter rolls and CCTV footage,” Gandhi added.
In a post on X, the Chief Electoral Office in Maharashtra said as informed by the Election Commission of India already, electoral rolls are shared with all recognised political parties.
“During 2nd Special Summary Revision-2024, which was taken up before the General Elections to Maharashtra Assembly-2024, the copies of draft and final electoral rolls of all 288 ACs were provided to representatives of all recognised political parties including INC (Dates of handing over the rolls to INC can be seen in the attachment),” the office said.
“Between draft and final publication of rolls, 19,27,508 claims & objections were received for consideration. As per law, appeal can be filed against wrongful additions or deletions in the Electoral Rolls. Only 89 Appeals were received,” it said.
Gandhi’s remarks also came on a day it emerged that the Election Commission has formally written to him on his allegations of rigging in the 2024 Maharashtra polls, saying all elections are held by the poll authority strictly as per laws passed by Parliament and rules, and the entire exercise involves thousands of personnel, including booth-level agents appointed by political parties.
In a letter emailed to him on June 12 in response to his article written in a leading daily, the EC has said the entire election process is conducted in a decentralised manner at the assembly constituency level, which involved more than 1,00,186 Booth Level Officers (BLOs), 288 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 139 General Observers, 41 Police Observers, 71 Expenditure Observers and 288 Returning Officers (ROs) appointed by the Commission.
“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,” it told the LoP in Lok Sabha.
“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,” the poll authority said.
(With PTI inputs)
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter –twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter –twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
- First Published:
