Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday responded to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's comments about last year's state Assembly elections and the Election Commission. Shinde said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition is still struggling to come to terms with its defeat.
"MVA is still unable to recover from the shock of their defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. They were hit by a 440-volt shock, and they just can't understand how they lost. The results are a reflection of the work we have done over the past 2.5 years. They should accept their defeat. When we lose, we accept the people's mandate. But when they lose, they start blaming EVMs, the Election Commission, and now even the voter list. They are raising these issues now because they are also going to lose in Delhi," Shinde said as quoted by PTI.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi, along with Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Supriya Sule of the NCP-SCP, raised concerns about a surge in new voters in Maharashtra. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, he claimed that 39 lakh voters were added to the state's electoral rolls within five months of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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"In five years between the 2019 Vidhan Sabha and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 32 lakh voters were added in Maharashtra. However, in just five months between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, 39 lakh new voters were added. Who are these people?" Gandhi asked.
He also questioned why the number of registered voters in Maharashtra exceeded the state's total adult population. "We have studied the voter lists and voting patterns in detail. Our team has found several irregularities. The number of voters supporting Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP-SCP has not decreased between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections," he said.
Gandhi demanded access to voter lists from both elections. "We have been telling the Election Commission that we are finding anomalies. We need the voter list with names and addresses for both the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections to understand who these new voters are," he said.
The Election Commission responded in a post on X, saying political parties are priority stakeholders. "The voters are the prime stakeholders. The Commission deeply values views, suggestions, and questions from political parties. A written response with full factual and procedural details, uniformly adopted across the country, will be provided," the post stated.