Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, raised concerns about a "serious problem" with the country's election system. He said the need for the Election Commission to ensure greater transparency in the electoral process.
Rahul Gandhi, asserting that "something wrong" occurred in the Maharashtra assembly elections, stated that the Congress and opposition parties have been requesting the voter lists for both Maharashtra and Haryana elections. However, he claimed that the Election Commission has been refusing to provide them.
While addressing Congress leaders at the inauguration of the new party headquarters, Rahul Gandhi alleged that there was an increase of nearly one crore voters between the Maharashtra Lok Sabha and assembly elections. He criticized the Election Commission for not responding to the opposition's queries or providing the requested voter lists.
"I want to ask you why would the Election Commission refuse to give us voters' lists of the Maharashtra election. What purpose is served by not giving us and the rest of the opposition the voter lists of the Maharashtra Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha election? Why will it damage the EC? Why are they not giving us the list?
"It is the duty of the EC to ensure transparency in elections. If there is an increase of one crore in (the number of) voters in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha in Maharashtra, it is the duty and sacred responsibility of the Election Commission to show us exactly why this has happened. There is a serious problem with our election system," Gandhi said.
Gandhi stated that the opposition wanted to review the names of voters who participated in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections, as well as the names and addresses of voters in the Vidhan Sabha elections. He pointed out that if the Election Commission had provided that data, the issue would have been resolved. However, he noted that the EC has refused to share this information.