**Rahul Gandhi Demands Transparency from Election Commission on Maharashtra Polls**
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has ramped up his calls for transparency from the Election Commission (EC), urging the body to release consolidated digital voter rolls and post-5 pm CCTV footage from polling booths in Maharashtra. This demand comes amid ongoing disputes with the EC, which has dismissed his allegations of “match-fixing” in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
In a direct address to the Election Commission, Gandhi stated, “Dear EC, you are a Constitutional body. Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions. If you have nothing to hide, answer the questions in my article and prove it by publishing consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states, including Maharashtra, and releasing all post-5 pm CCTV footage from Maharashtra polling booths. Evasion won’t protect your credibility. Telling the truth will.”
The Election Commission responded on Saturday, labeling Gandhi’s claims regarding the rigging of last year’s Maharashtra Assembly election results as vague and “completely absurd.” The EC issued a detailed rebuttal to the Congress MP’s allegations of voter fraud, stating, “After any unfavorable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised is completely absurd.”
Earlier, while sharing his op-ed in a national publication, Gandhi asserted that the Maharashtra Assembly elections were conducted in a manner that favored the BJP, alleging that the voter lists were inflated with fictitious names. He also claimed that amendments to the law governing the appointment of Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner were made to benefit the central government by removing the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel.
The Election Commission firmly rejected Gandhi’s “match-fixing” allegations, emphasizing that the voting process was conducted transparently, with polling agents from all political parties present. The EC noted that Congress’s authorized agents did not raise any objections or complaints regarding abnormal voting. The Commission reiterated that it had previously addressed similar charges from the Congress shortly after the Maharashtra Assembly elections, stating, “The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to INC on December 24, 2024, which is available on the EC’s website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again.”
The Congress-led INDIA bloc faced a significant defeat in the Assembly elections last year, securing only 46 out of 288 seats, following a period where it had outperformed the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections.
**FAQ**
**What are Rahul Gandhi’s main demands from the Election Commission?**
Rahul Gandhi is demanding the release of consolidated digital voter rolls and post-5 pm CCTV footage from polling booths in Maharashtra to ensure transparency in the electoral process.
