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Maharashtra chief electoral office on Monday confronted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's accusations of electoral roll manipulation in the state assembly elections. The office clarified that electoral rolls are provided to all recognized political parties, including the Congress, free of cost after finalisation.
It said that the electoral rolls are revised annually and shared with political parties at the draft and final stages. The finalized electoral rolls for 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024 assembly elections were shared with the Congress and other parties. "Electoral rolls are revised annually through a participatory exercise. During this annual exercise, the electoral rolls are shared, free of cost, with recognized political parties, including INC, first at draft stage and second time after its finalization. The similar exercise was done in 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024 and copies of such electoral rolls were then shared with INC, as well as other political parties," an official statement from Maharashtra's CEO office said. https://x.com/CEO_Maharashtra/status/1932037108514066720 The electoral rolls for the 2024 general and assembly elections are available for download on the Election Commission's website. "A complete copy of electoral roll used in general elections to Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra-2024 is also available on website for public to freely download. Even for earlier electoral rolls, a copy of finalized electoral rolls is retained by district election officer as well. Under Rule 33 of the registration of Electors Rules, 1960, any person, including INC, can apply to the concerned District Election Officer and get a copy of such on payment of prescribed fee," the official statement read. The same position has been repeated previously, with the statement adding, "CEO, Maharashtra had reiterated this statutory position on 22nd May 2025 to Member of Parliament of INC who sought a copy of electoral rolls which were already provided to the INC at the time of revision in 2009, 2014, and 2024." Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had earlier called upon the Election Commission to publish consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states, including Maharashtra, saying that "telling the truth" will protect the poll panel's credibility. In a post on X, he had referred to the ECI's response to his allegations concerning Maharashtra polls and said, "Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions." The ECI has described such claims by the Congress leader as "unsubstantiated allegations." An official statement read, "Unsubstantiated allegations raised against the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law. The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to the INC on 24th December 2024 itself, which is available on the ECI's website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again." (ANI)
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