In his first remarks after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's recent allegations of irregularities in the Maharashtra elections, including in its electoral roll, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has said the process of preparing the electoral roll in India is among the “most rigorous and transparent” in the world. The CEC made these remarks while delivering the keynote address at the Stockholm International Conference on Electoral Integrity, organised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International-IDEA), in Sweden on Tuesday. The event was attended by representatives of election management bodies of around 50 countries. In a statement on Wednesday, the Election Commission said: “(Kumar) underscored the statutory sharing of India’s electoral roll with all recognised political parties every year, during revision as well as before the elections, since 1960 till today, with provision of claims, objections and appeals, as one of the world’s most rigorous and transparent exercises, reinforcing the accuracy and integrity of the electoral process. He noted that this robust mechanism plays a vital role in upholding electoral credibility across the country, year after year.” The CEC said that conducting elections with the “utmost integrity is a testament to our national resolve”. He said elections are conducted under the close watch of political parties, candidates, the EC’s general, police and expenditure observers, and the media – with all acting as concurrent auditors. The exercise of conducting parliamentary elections involves close coordination with over 20 million personnel, he said. The Indian electorate has grown from 173 million electors in the first General Elections in 1951-1952 to 979 million in 2024. The number of political parties who participated in the 2024 elections stood at 743, including six recognised national parties and 67 state parties, he said. The EC statement said Kumar highlighted the integrity, scale and diversity of the Indian elections. He spoke of the “wonder that Indian elections are - the largest and most diverse in the world”. He “reaffirmed the role of the Election Commission of India in capacity building programmes for election management bodies of countries around the globe,” the statement said. In an article in The Indian Express last week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had reiterated allegations he has made in the past. Flagging an “incredible leap” in new voters, he had alleged “bogus” voting and “match-fixing” in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. After the Maharashtra Assembly elections in November 2024, the Congress had alleged a “shocking” increase in electors in the five months since the Lok Sabha elections. Since then, Rahul has raised the issue several times, asking the EC for voter data. Denying the allegations, the EC had said in its reply to the Congress in December that the number of electors increased by 40.91 lakh, with 26.46 lakh being young voters aged between 18 and 29 years. It said the increase in a state as large as Maharashtra was not abnormal.
