Though the Election Commission has trashed the Congress's "match-fixing" allegation in the November 2024 elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, the party has found a brief sense of victory in one of its related quests.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has welcomed the EC announcement that it would share Maharashtra and Haryana voter rolls since 2009, based on a request by his party. Calling it a good first step, he has sought to know when this data will be handed over to the political parties.
"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, sharing a headline that read: "EC to share Maharashtra, Haryana voter rolls since 2009 on Congress plea".
Read: "Evasion Won't Protect...": Rahul Gandhi vs Poll Body Over Maharashtra Polls
The development assumes significance amid a Congress allegation that last November, the assembly elections held in the two states were "rigged" in favour of the BJP. The Congress and its allies had suffered a humiliating defeat in both elections.
The EC had rubbished the allegation then, and again on June 7, calling it "completely absurd" after Mr Gandhi raised fresh questions about the way the polls were conducted in a newspaper op-ed. Among his claims were the addition of fake voters to voter rolls, targeted bonus voting, rigging the panel for appointing Election Commissioners, and hiding evidence.
In an online post, Mr Gandhi had also expressed fear that the same could repeat in the upcoming Bihar elections.
In response, the Election Commission pointed out that neither the party, nor the candidates, nor the polling agents made any serious allegation at the time of voting and scrutiny. Not many appeals came against the voter rolls additions, which made it clear that there was no grievance, it said.
Read: Devendra Fadnavis, His Deputy Rubbish Rahul Gandhi's "Match-Fixing" Claim
Mr Gandhi shot back, telling the EC that releasing "unsigned, evasive notes" was not the way to respond to serious questions. If it has nothing to hide, the EC must publish the "consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states, including Maharashtra," he said.
"Evasion won't protect your credibility; telling the truth will," he said.
Responding to this, an EC source noted that it was rather strange that the Leader of Opposition had chosen to seek answers through media instead of writing to the election body. He should not shy away from writing to the Election Commission himself, he advised.
However, even 24 hours later, no such letter had been received from Mr Gandhi, said an EC source last afternoon. The EC would formally respond to him only when he writes to them, they added.
