E-Paper
Rahul Gandhi targets EC over poll data, Maha CEO says already available
Gandhi’s comments comes days after he claimed, in an op-ed published on June 7, that the Maharashtra assembly elections were a “blueprint for rigging democracy”
Hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded a timeframe from the Election Commission of India (ECI) for issuing electoral rolls, Maharashtra’s chief electoral officer (CEO) on Monday said that a complete copy of the electoral roll used in the state assembly elections last year was available on its website for the public, even as the war of words between the leader of the Opposition the Lok Sabha and the poll body continued.
“Good first step taken by EC to hand over voter rolls,” Gandhi said in a post on X, referring to a news report on the poll body sharing electoral roll data for Haryana and Maharashtra from 2009 to 2024. “Can the EC please announce the exact date by which this data will be handed over in a digital, machine-readable format?”
Gandhi’s comments comes days after he claimed, in an op-ed published in a daily on June 7, that the Maharashtra assembly elections were a “blueprint for rigging democracy” and alleged “industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions”. The claims were rejected by ECI officials on the condition of anonymity.
On Monday, Maharashtra CEO issued a statement, saying, “Electoral rolls are revised annually through a participatory exercise. During this annual exercise, the electoral rolls are shared, free of cost, with recognized political parties, including INC, first at draft stage and second time after its finalization. The similar exercise was done in 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024 and copies of such electoral rolls were then shared with INC, as well as other political parties.”
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala had filed a petition in the Delhi HC in December last year, demanding electoral rolls of Maharashtra and Haryana – used during the legislative assembly elections as well as Lok Sabha elections – from 2009 to 2024.
The high court records from the February hearing, as read by HT, said that Surjewala had received a communication from the ECI stating that the poll body had written to the respective CEOs to decide “the representation [of Surjewala] in accordance with the law by speaking orders”. However, Congress then submitted to the HC for a time frame.
To this, the Election Commission of India submitted in the court: "Electoral Rolls have been sought for the period commencing 2009 and, therefore, at least a period of three months is required to decide the representation."
Justice Jyoti Singh of the Delhi HC had then said that the matter be decided as “expeditiously as possible” and not later than three months from February 25, 2025.
However, Maharashtra CEO's response on Monday stated that any people including INC may get the electoral rolls of the past elections.
“If the electoral roll was readily available with the District Election Officers, so much so that any people may get it with prescribed fees, I don’t understand the reason why the Commission took three months to convey this piece of information. They could have conveyed this during the February hearing,” said a person in ECI, who keeps a track of political parties.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on June 9 reiterated the same issue. Interestingly, in both Gandhi’s article, and Kharge’s signed letter posted on X, they had sought “consolidated, digital, and machine-readable voter rolls”. Officials in the ECI said that they “baffled” by this task, however, Congress leaders took to X and explained the question. Congress leaders then claimed that they are demanding machine-readable formats – CSV or Excel file – enabling “automated comparison, validation, and auditing of electoral rolls”.
Kharge also claimed that the credibility of the Election Commission is at stake, and “we urge it to uphold the standards expected of a neutral and constitutional authority”. "The citizens of India deserve answers. The integrity of our democracy demands it,” he wrote.
