Congress demands voter lists, poll footage from EC for Maha and Haryana polls

New Delhi: The Congress party has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide machine-readable digital copies of the voter lists for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and subsequent Vidhan Sabha elections, particularly in Maharashtra and Haryana. It has also sought polling day video footage for both states.

“This has been a long-standing request which should be easy for the EC to comply with,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera posted on X on Thursday, requesting the material be provided within a week.

In a letter addressed to the EC, the party said that it has formed a dedicated group to coordinate election-related issues and cited the Commission’s June 12 letter to the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi offering a meeting to discuss concerns around the Maharashtra assembly polls.

“Since December 2024, through multiple letters, petitions, press conferences, and speeches in Parliament, we have raised serious concerns about the sudden, massive surge in voters during the Maharashtra 2024 assembly elections — particularly the inexplicable spike in polling after 5 p.m.,” the letter stated.

Citing the EC’s own data, Congress said the number of new electors added between the Lok Sabha polls in May and the assembly elections in November 2024 exceeded the total additions made in the preceding five years combined.

“This has never happened before and defies logic. Who are these new voters, and where did they come from?” the letter questioned.

The party emphasized that any credible probe must begin with a comparison of the final electoral rolls of the two elections — a request it claims has gone unanswered for seven months.

“Instead of simply sharing the voter lists, the EC has resorted to media leaks, evasive replies, and allegations,” the letter said.

“Do you or do you not have these lists? Not sharing polling day footage only adds to public suspicion,” the letter further said.

The letter criticised the Commission’s past responses as unhelpful and accused it of deflecting from core concerns by citing procedural explanations or claiming the lists were shared with individual candidates.

“The Congress leadership will be happy to meet with the Commission after receiving the requested documents, and we will present our findings in that meeting,” it said.

–IANS