New Delhi [India], April 22 (ANI): Sources in the Election Commission on Tuesday issued a strong rebuttal of the Congress party's charge that the voter list in the Maharashtra Assembly polls was manipulated.

According to EC sources, during the Assembly Elections in Maharashtra, 6,40,87,588 electors, who arrived at the polling station between 7 am and 6 pm, cast their votes. About 58 lakh votes were polled per hour on average. Going by these average trends, nearly 116 Lakh voters could have voted in the last two hours. Therefore, casting of 65 lakhs votes by electors in two hours is much below the average hourly voting trends.

Sources further stated that in every polling booth, voting proceeded in the presence of polling agents formally appointed by candidates or political parties. Indian National Congress' nominated candidates or their authorised agents have not raised any substantiated allegations with regard to any kind of abnormal voting at the time of scrutiny before the Returning Officer (RO) and the Election Observers on the next day.

Electoral Rolls in India, including those in Maharashtra, are prepared in accordance with the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. As per law, either just before the elections and/or once every year, Special Summary Revision of the Electoral Rolls is conducted and a final copy of the Electoral Rolls is handed over to all the National/State political parties, including the Congress.

After the finalisation of these Electoral Rolls during the Maharashtra elections, as against 9,77,90,752 Electors, only a total of 89 appeals were filed before the first appellate authority (DM), and only one appeal was filed before the second appellate authority (CEO). Therefore, it is amply clear that there was no grievance of the INC or any other political parties before the conduct of the Maharashtra Assembly Elections in 2024, said EC sources.

During the revision of electoral rolls for 1,00,427 Polling Booths, along with 97,325 Booth-Level Officers, 1,03,727 Booth-Level Agents were also appointed by all Political Parties, including 27,099 by the Congress. Therefore, these unsubstantiated allegations raised against the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law, sources added.

The EC's response follows Rahul Gandhi's allegation, made while addressing the diaspora in Boston in the United States, that the Election Commission (EC) in India is 'compromised,' further stating that there is something fundamentally wrong with the system.

Citing the example of the Maharashtra elections, the senior Congress leader alleged that 65 lakh voters were added to the voter list in two hours, which was impossible.

'More people voted in the Maharashtra Assembly elections than there are adults in the State of Maharashtra. The Election Commission provided us with a voting figure for 5:30 PM, and between 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM, 65 lakh voters cast their votes. This is physically impossible to happen. To vote, a voter typically requires approximately three minutes. If you do the Math, it would mean that there were lines of voters until 2 AM, but this did not happen. When we asked them for the videography, they not only refused but they also changed the law so that now we are not allowed to ask for the videography,' he claimed.

'It's very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, and there is something very wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times, ' Gandhi further said.

According to sources in the EC, the Commission had presented these facts in its reply to the Congress on December 24, 2024, and it appears that these facts were completely overlooked while raising such issues repeatedly.

EC sources further said, all Indian elections are held in accordance with the law. The scale and accuracy with which elections are conducted in India are widely acclaimed worldwide. The entire nation is aware that each election process, including the preparation of electoral rolls, polling, and counting, is conducted by Government staff and that, too, in the presence of authorised representatives formally appointed by political parties or candidates from the polling station up to the constituency level.

Any misinformation being spread, by anyone, is not only a sign of disrespect towards the Law, but also brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by their own political party and demotivates lakhs of election staff who work untiringly and transparently during elections. After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, attempting to defame the Election Commission by claiming it is compromised is completely absurd. (ANI)