‘Free of cost’: EC counters Rahul Gandhi’s voter roll demand; says polls details already provided | India News

NEW DELHI: After repeated attacks on the Election Commission by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the chief electoral officer of Maharashtra on Monday advised the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha to download the voter rolls of the Maharashtra legislative elections from its website — “free of cost”.Hours after Rahul asked the EC to specify the exact date by which it would furnish the voter rolls, the Commission said it maintains the practice of sharing the details with recognised political parties — first at the draft stage and again after finalisation.“Electoral Rolls are revised annually through a participatory exercise. During this annual exercise, the Electoral Rolls are shared, free of cost, with recognised political parties, including the INC — first at the draft stage and again after finalisation. A similar exercise was carried out in 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024, and copies of such Electoral Rolls were then shared with the INC as well as other political parties,” the EC said in a statement.“A complete copy of the Electoral Roll used in the General Elections to the Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra–2024 is also available on the website for the public to freely download. Even for earlier electoral rolls, a copy of the finalised Electoral Rolls is retained by the District Election Officer. Under Rule 33 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, any person, including the INC, can apply to the concerned District Election Officer and obtain a copy of the retained Electoral Rolls on payment of the prescribed fee. The CEO, Maharashtra, reiterated this statutory position on 22nd May 2025 to a Hon’ble Member of Parliament from the INC who sought a copy of electoral rolls that had already been provided to the INC during revisions in 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024,” it added.Earlier, Rahul had asked the Election Commission to specify the exact date by which it would furnish the voter rolls of the Maharashtra and Haryana legislative elections.In a social media post on X, Rahul welcomed the EC’s decision and said, “Good first step taken by EC to hand over voter rolls.”“Can the EC please announce the exact date by which this data will be handed over in a digital, machine-readable format?” he asked.The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha also shared a screenshot of a media report claiming that the EC had cleared the way for sharing electoral-roll data for Haryana and Maharashtra from 2009 to 2024, following an assurance it gave to the Delhi High Court earlier this year.This development came a day after Rahul, in an article, outlined a “step-by-step manipulation” of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.“My article shows how this happened, step by step: Step 1: Rig the panel for appointing the Election Commission. Step 2: Add fake voters to the roll.Step 3: Inflate voter turnout. Step 4: Target the bogus voting exactly where BJP needs to win.Step 5: Hide the evidence,” Gandhi wrote in a post on X.“It’s not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra. But rigging is like match-fixing — the side that cheats might win the game, but damages institutions and destroys public faith in the result. All concerned Indians must see the evidence, judge for themselves, and demand answers,” Gandhi had said.“Because the match-fixing of Maharashtra will come to Bihar next, and then anywhere the BJP is losing,” the Leader of Opposition claimed.Later, the poll body issued a statement calling Rahul’s allegations of “match-fixing” in the electoral process “completely absurd.”“The entire nation is aware that each election process — including the preparation of electoral rolls, polling, and counting — is held by government staff, and that too in the presence of authorised representatives formally appointed by political parties/candidates from polling station up to constituency level,” the EC said.“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,” it added.“After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised is completely absurd,” the statement by the ECI read.In the 2024 Assembly elections, the Mahayuti coalition of BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP won 235 of the 288 seats, with BJP securing 132 alone. Shinde’s Sena secured 57 seats, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP got 41 seats.On the other hand, it was a disappointing show by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which had hoped for a grand comeback. Uddhav’s Sena got 20 seats, Congress 16, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP secured 10 seats.