Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 8: Even as the BJP and its alliance partners ridiculed the Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for reopening the issue of alleged rigging in the Maharashtra state Assembly elections last year, the Election Commission sources said on Sunday that neither Mr Gandhi nor the Congress has written any letter to the poll body expressing its concerns or sought a meeting to discuss the issues.
Mr Gandhi only through an article in a newspaper had levelled the allegations against the Election Commission of India of having acted in favour of the ruling “Mahayuti” led by the BJP in the Maharashtra elections helping the three-party alliance to sweep the polls but has not written any letter to the ECI or sought any time for a meeting even 24 hours after he raised allegations of “rigging” in the assembly election held in November last year, ECI sources said on Sunday. As per procedure, any constitutional body including the ECI will formally respond only when Mr Gandhi writes to them, the sources said.
It is intriguing that Mr Gandhi says the issues being raised by him are “very serious”, but when it comes to writing them and sending them to the ECI, he “shies away”, sources said.
Mr Gandhi on Saturday had asked the Election Commission to publish consolidated, digital and machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and assembly of all states, including Maharashtra, saying “telling the truth” will protect the ECI’s credibility. In a post on X, he referred to the ECI’s response to his allegations concerning the Maharashtra polls and said, “Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions.”
In response, the ECI described Mr Gandhi’s Maharashtra election poll rigging claims as “unsubstantiated allegations.” “Unsubstantiated allegations raised about the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law. The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to the INC on 24th December 2024 itself, which is available on the ECI’s website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again,” it 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. After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised, is completely absurd,” the poll body said.
“Rahul Gandhi has in fact ended up criticising the booth level agents appointed by his own INC [Congress], polling and counting agents appointed by his own INC candidates in Maharashtra,” the sources said. They said the 10.5 lakh booth-level officers, 50 lakh polling officers, and 1 lakh counting supervisors appointed by the ECI all across the country are also disappointed with Mr Gandhi over the allegations being made by him, questioning their integrity and hard work.
On Mr Gandhi’s demand for CCTV footage, the sources said, “As per instructions of the ECI, the CCTV footage of polling stations can always be scrutinised by a high court in any election petition. This is done by the ECI to protect the integrity of elections as well as to protect the privacy of voters. Why does Rahul Gandhi himself or through his agents want to invade the privacy of voters, which is to be protected by the ECI as per electoral laws? Does Rahul Gandhi not trust even the high courts now?”
The sources pointed out that as part of its outreach, the EC had invited all six national parties for separate interactions. While the other five met the EC brass, Congress cancelled the May 15 meeting.
