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Psephologist Sanjay Kumar apologises for Maharashtra voter data ‘error’, BJP reacts
Sanjay Kumar of Lokniti-CSDS said an error occurred while comparing 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly election data, attributing it to a misread row.
Political analyst and psephologist Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday apologised for his post on Maharashtra elections, which reported a considerable fall in voter numbers in two assembly seats compared to the recent Lok Sabha elections.
He said an error occurred while comparing 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly election data, attributing it to a misread row by the data team.
“I sincerely apologize for the tweets posted regarding Maharashtra elections. Error occurred while comparing data of 2024 LS and 2024 AS. The data in row was misread by our Data team. The tweet has since been removed. I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation,” Lokniti-CSDS co-director wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Reacting to Kumar's apology, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya accused him of consistently misrepresenting election projections to favour Congress, calling the Maharashtra data a case of “confirmation bias.”
“The apology is in, and Sanjay Kumar is out. Incidentally, when was the last time this protégé of Yogendra Yadav ever got anything right? In all his projections in the run-up to every single election, the BJP is supposedly losing—and when the reverse happens, he turns up on TV justifying how the BJP won. Convenient. He must think TV audiences are fools,” Malviya wrote on X.
“In this instance too, it was hardly an honest error. In his exuberance to feed Congress’s fake narrative on Maharashtra, CSDS put out data without verification. That is not analysis—it is confirmation bias. It’s time we start taking the sanctimonious sermons of the likes of Sanjay Kumar and Yogendra Yadav with not just a pinch, but a sack of salt,” he added.
In another post, Malviya slammed Rahul Gandhi, saying the data he relied on to attack Maharashtra voters has now been admitted as incorrect, covering both the state and SIR.
“So, what is the position of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress now, which shamelessly targeted the Election Commission and even called genuine voters fake? Shameful,” Malviya wrote on X.
“Rahul Gandhi should immediately abandon his “Intruder Protection Journey” in Bihar and offer an unconditional apology to the people of India for his irresponsible and regressive politics,” he added.
