Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jun 9: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday demanded full transparency from the Election Commission of India (ECI) over serious questions regarding the conduct of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, echoing concerns raised by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
In a strongly worded statement, Kharge called the developments “deeply troubling,” stressing that the integrity of India’s democratic process is at stake.
He flagged an unsigned letter that has surfaced in response to Gandhi’s article, allegedly from the ECI. Kharge said, “You are a Constitutional body. Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions,” quoting Gandhi.
Kharge outlined four key concerns:
1. Sudden Voter Surge — Between 2019 and early 2024, only 31 lakh new voters were added to the rolls, but a surprising 41 lakh were added in the five months between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, raising questions about data integrity.
2. Voter Turnout Discrepancy — The provisional voter turnout was declared at 58.73%, later revised to 66%. Kharge demanded CCTV footage and videography from polling booths after 5 p.m. to explain the sudden jump.
3. Change in EC Appointment Process — Kharge criticized the amendment that replaced the Chief Justice of India with the Union Home Minister on the ECI selection panel, undermining judicial oversight and threatening the Commission’s independence.
4. Electoral Rolls Opaqueness — He slammed the ECI for not publishing final updated electoral rolls for the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections, calling it a serious breach of transparency.
Kharge demanded that the ECI immediately release:
• Consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls with version histories and timestamps
• All post-5 p.m. polling booth footage from the Maharashtra Assembly elections
“Transparency is not a favour; it is a constitutional obligation,” Kharge said. “The credibility of the Election Commission is on trial. The people of India demand answers — and they deserve nothing less.”