‘76 lakh votes cast in last hour’: Congress writes to ECI alleging inconsistencies in Maharashtra polls
The letter by the Congress alleged that there was an increase of around 47 lakh voters in the electoral rolls in Maharashtra during July-November and it favoured the ruling Mahayuti.
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A memorandum to the ECI was signed by Nana Patole, Ramesh Chennithala and Mukul Wasnik. (File Photo)The Maharashtra Congress has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) raising the issue of “certain serious and grave inconsistencies which are being revealed in the voter data relating to the polling and counting processes” in the recently concluded state Assembly elections. It said there was an “unprecedented increase” of around 47 lakh voters in the electoral rolls and that an “implausible” 76 lakh votes were cast in the last hour of polling.
The letter sent by Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, state unit in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and party general secretary Mukul Wasnik, has raised the issue of, “arbitrary deletion of voters and subsequent addition of over 10,000 voters in each constituency from the final voter lists” and “inexplicable increase in voting percentages from 5 pm to the final voter percentage declared by this Hon’ble Commission at 11.30 pm on the day of polling.”
The letter alleges that there was an increase of around 47 lakh voters in the electoral rolls during the July-November period and it favoured the ruling regime. Adding that it was incumbent upon the ECI to hold itself accountable and issue a detailed public response, the letter has sought an urgent in-person hearing.
“With this exercise of unchecked and arbitrary deletion and consequent insertion of voters, the State of Maharashtra witnessed an unprecedented increase of an estimated 47 Lakh voters being added to the electoral roll from between July 2024 – November 2024. It is significant to note that out of the 50 Assembly Constituencies where there was an average increase of 50,000 voters, the ruling regime and its allies secured victory from 47 of these Constituencies,” the letter said. A copy of an FIR dated October 17, 2024, registered by the Dharashiv cyber police station “reporting a large number of fake voter registrations” was also attached.
Claiming that “several glaring discrepancies have been reported in the voter turn out data in the Assembly polls”, the letter pointed out that the polling percentage across Maharashtra at 5 pm was 58.22 per cent. “The said percentage was later reported to be 65.02%. as of 11.30 pm on the same day. Further, there was another increase in the voting percentage, ultimately being reported as 66.05%, several hours prior to counting,” it said.
“From a common sense viewpoint, over 70 lakh votes being cast in the closing hour of polling is implausible and unheard of in electoral history. Even assuming the time taken by one individual to cast their vote is two minutes, it is impossible for this Hon’ble Commission to have even come out with the final data by 11.30 pm considering that 76 lakh voters have exercised their franchise within the last hour of polling,” the letter added.
The Congress suffered a crushing defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly polls as it managed to win only 16 seats out of the 101 it contested. The Opposition MVA alliance, which it was part of, was reduced to just 49 seats while the ruling Mahayuti won 230 of the total 288 seats.
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