Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, claimed on Monday, February 3, 2025, that between the Lok Sabha and State elections, approximately 70 lakh voters—the same number as the population of Himachal Pradesh—were added to Maharashtra’s electoral rolls. He also demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) provide data to the state’s opposition parties.
Speaking to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, Mr. Gandhi expressed his confidence that the EC would not give the opposition parties the information they requested and raised a number of concerns about the validity of the Maharashtra elections that were held in November of last year and in which the BJP-led Mahayuti won a sizable mandate.
With a copy of the Constitution in hand, Mr. Gandhi said this is supported by the “vote of our people and without a secure vote, the Constitution means nothing”.
“Now, I want to bring to the notice of this House some data about Maharashtra polls. Between the Lok Sabha polls, which the INDIA bloc won, and the assembly elections, the number equivalent to the population of Himachal was added to the voting rolls of Maharashtra,” Mr. Gandhi told the House, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.
Mr. Gandhi asserted that the sudden arrival of over 70 lakh voters constituted the difference between the state elections in November and the Lok Sabha elections in June. “More voters were added in Maharashtra in five months between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls than in five years,” the former Congress president said.
He gave the example of how almost 7,000 new voters were added in a Shirdi building following the Lok Sabha elections. “I am not making an allegation, I am only saying that there is something problematic that the population equivalent to that of Himachal was added in Maharashtra through magic after the Lok Sabha polls,” Mr. Gandhi said. “We have requested the Election commission repeatedly that we are not making an allegation, ‘give us the Lok Sabha voters’ list and that of the Vidhan Sabha…we are saying to the EC that ‘please give us names and addresses of voters of all booths from the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly elections’, so we can calculate who these voters are,” Mr. Gandhi added.
He said that the majority of the new voters were added in areas where the BJP ultimately prevailed. “I am still not making an allegation. I am saying on the floor of the House that the EC has to give the data of Maharashtra elections to the Congress, Shiv Sen (UBT) and NCP (SC),” Mr. Gandhi said, adding that the opposition will get to see exactly where these voters have been added and who has been subtracted.
He stated that a committee consisting of the prime minister, the leader of the opposition, and the chief justice used to select the election commissioner, but the administration withdrew the chief justice from the panel. “This raises a crucial question for the Prime Minister: why was this change made?In a few days, I will be attending a meeting with Mr. Amit Shah and Mr. Modi, which seems like an uneven playing field, with a 2:1 ratio. What’s the point of my attendance? Am I merely there to rubber-stamp what Modi ji and Amit Shah ji say?” he said.
He added that the removal of the Chief Justice seems to be a calculated action and that the Chief Justice’s presence would have allowed for a more fair discussion. “Furthermore, the Election Commissioner was replaced just before the Lok Sabha elections, two election commissioners were appointed. To safeguard the Constitution, the entire Opposition is requesting data on the Maharashtra Election,” Mr. Gandhi said.
The main focus of Mr. Gandhi’s speech was what the presidential address of an Indian bloc administration would entail. “The third element of the presidential address would be a determining the defence of India’s institutions, democratic system, a re-look at the entire democratic framework and looking again at all the institutions that have been taken away from the people of India,” Mr. Gandhi said.
His comments in the Lower House were made the day after the Congress established the Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE), an eight-member group, to oversee the Election Commission of India’s conduct of free and fair elections.
According to a statement from the party, the committee would first address the “manipulation” issue with the Maharashtra voters’ list and provide a thorough report to the leadership as soon as possible.
Last month, Mr. Gandhi claimed that the nation’s electoral system had a “serious problem” and that the electoral Commission needed to make sure that polls were transparent.
He insisted that “something wrong” had happened in the Maharashtra assembly polls and said that the opposition and Congress had been requesting voter lists for the elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, which the EC was not providing. He had insisted that the EC disclose the truth about the matter.
