ECI invites Congress delegation to review Maharashtra election result concerns
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will meet a delegation of the Indian National Congress (INC) on December 3 after the party complained about the recent Maharashtra elections. The ECI, in its interim response to the party, reiterated a "transparent process with the involvement of candidates/their agents at every stage." At the same time, the ECI promised to review all legitimate concerns raised by the Congress and provide a written response after personally hearing them.
Congress alleges manipulation of electoral rolls
The Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, consisting of the INC, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (Sharad Pawar), managed to win just 50 out of 288 seats in the recent assembly polls. Following the results, the INC alleged "grave inconsistencies" in the elections, including arbitrary deletions and additions of voters and unexplained surges in voter turnout, and filed an "urgent memorandum" to the ECI.
Congress points out voter turnout data discrepancies
The INC emphasized that in constituencies where the average increase was 50,000 voters, the ruling alliance won in 47 out of 50 cases. They raised concerns over discrepancies in voter turnout data, pointing out a massive jump in voter turnout from 58.22% at 5:00pm to 65.02% by 11:30pm on polling day. The party also alleged that another jump was reported before counting of votes began.
ECI's response
ECI assures transparency, denies discrepancy in data
In response to these allegations, the ECI has maintained that there was no discrepancy in voter turnout data. "Gap in 5:00pm polling data and final voter turnout are due to procedural priorities, as presiding officers perform multiple statutory duties near close of poll before updating voter turnout data," the ECI wrote. "As an additional disclosure measure, ECI press note at around 11:45 PM was thus introduced during the 2024 General Elections and followed subsequently during all assembly elections thereafter."
