New Delhi, Aug 18 Unfazed by the Election Commission’s dismissal of charges regarding vote theft and electoral malpractices in Karnataka, Bihar and other states, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday raked up the issue of alleged irregularities in Maharashtra Assembly elections and cited a few constituencies where he claimed that gross violations happened, apparently because of oversight of polling officers.
This follows Rahul Gandhi and Congress' assertions that one crore fraudulent entries were made in the Maharashtra voter list between the Parliamentary and Assembly elections.
Khera, the chairman of Congress media and publicity department, took to X on Monday and claimed two Maharashtra Assembly constituencies witnessed an exponential rise in the number of voters while two others saw a sudden dip, both averaging around 40 per cent -- just within a span of six months, last year.
“Close to 40% of the electorate died/ permanently migrated in Ramtek and Devlali assembly constituencies. Around 45% of the electorate suddenly became eligible to vote in Nashik West and Hingna assembly constituencies,” Khera said in a post on X.
He further said that the sharp change in demography of these constituencies was recorded in just six months, i.e., between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections conducted about six months later, towards the end of the year.
He also shared the percentage change in the voters' list for all four constituencies. As per the bar graph shared by Congress spokesperson depicting change, Ramtek and Devlali constituencies witnessed a decline of 38.45 per cent and 36.82 per cent voters, while Nashik West and Hingna saw a surge of 47.38 per cent and 43.08 per cent voters, respectively -- in the stated period.
Khera’s fresh charges come in the backdrop of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar dismissing the Opposition’s charges as hearsay and an attempt to misguide voters.
Regarding the Maharashtra elections, in particular, Kumar rejected the Congress party’s claims of poll rigging and also questioned its silence for a long period after the elections.
The CEC, responding to Congress’ claims of ‘match-fixing' in Maharashtra polls, said the parties raised no objections even after eight months of elections, nor did they file any petition in the Apex Court.
With Khera doubling down on charges of electoral malpractice in Maharashtra elections, this is set to give a new dimension to the issue and escalate the party’s growing rift with the poll panel.
The Congress party has repeatedly maintained that the reason behind its debacle in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, six months after the Lok Sabha polls, was the sudden upsurge in voting numbers after 5 p.m. on the polling day and also because of fraudulent entry of voters in six months.
The party holds the Election Commission responsible for alleged voter fraud, a charge that the latter has outrightly rejected time and again.
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