'Absurd': ECI reacts to Rahul Gandhi's 'poll panel compromised' allegation
What's the story
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's accusations of an unusual spike in voter turnout in the last two hours of the Maharashtra assembly elections.
The ECI said neither before nor after the election did Congress raise concerns of such anomalies.
This rebuttal comes after Gandhi's recent claims in Boston, USA, where he claimed that "the Election Commission is compromised."
Allegations
Gandhi's claims based on ECI data
According to Gandhi, his allegations were based on data shared by the ECI itself.
"The Election Commission gave us a voting figure for 5:30pm and between 5:30pm and 7:30pm 65 lakh voters voted."
This was physically impossible, he argued.
"For a voter to vote, it takes approximately three minutes and, if you do the math, it would mean that there were lines of voters till 2:00am but this did not happen," Gandhi said while addressing the Indian diaspora in Boston.
Response
ECI counters Gandhi's claims
Responding to Gandhi's allegations, the ECI clarified that 6.40 crore electors voted in the Maharashtra polls between 7:00am and 6:00pm.
That translates to roughly 58 lakh votes per hour.
The commission added, "Going by these average trends, nearly 116 lakh voters could have voted in the last two hours. Therefore, casting of 65 lakh votes by electors in two hours is much below the average hourly voting trend."
Transparency
ECI maintains transparency and integrity
Stressing its commitment to transparency, the ECI said no substantiated allegations of abnormal voting had been made by Congress before the Returning Officer and Election Observers.
The commission also noted only a handful of appeals had been filed after finalizing electoral rolls last year for the Maharashtra elections.
"Therefore, it is amply clear that there was no grievance from the INC or any other political party before the conduct of the Maharashtra Assembly Elections in 2024," the ECI said.
Accusation
BJP accuses Gandhi of deflecting attention from National Herald case
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Nalin Kohli slammed Gandhi's remarks on ECI, alleging he was attempting to distract from the National Herald case.
In the case, Sonai Gandhi and her son have been named as accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its ₹988 crore money laundering investigation.
Kohli said, "Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the Election Commission...and conduct of elections establish that Congress is trying to divert attention from the National Herald case by attacking institutions."