More voters in Maharashtra than its adult population: Rahul Gandhi alleges irregularities in voting

Addressing a press conference, Rahul claimed the Election Commission of India (ECI) has reported more voters than its adult population.

The Congress leader said, "According to the government, Maharashtra's adult population is 9.54 crore. Yet, the Election Commission reports more voters in Maharashtra than its adult population. This discrepancy raises questions about how these voters were created.

"The number of voters who voted for these three parties has not decreased between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. A notable example is the Kamthi Vidhan Sabha."

Rahul, who was joined by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule at the presser, has lashed out at the ECI for not responding to their questions.

"These are fundamental questions. We have been asking the Election Commission for the voters' list of both the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Why is the Election Commission not responding to our request?"

In response, the ECI has put up an X post which reads, "ECI considers political parties,as priority stakeholders,of course the voters being the prime & deeply values views, suggestions, questions coming from political parties.

"Commission would respond in writing with full factual &procedural matrix uniformly adopted across the country."

The Mahayuti alliance secured a dominant victory in the November 20 elections, winning 230 out of 288 Assembly seats.

The BJP emerged as the largest party with a record 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena and NCP won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.

In less than a year after upsetting the Mahayuti in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi bagged 46 out of 288 seats.

The Congress, which was one of the key players in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, won only 16 seats.

Responding to Rahul's allegations, Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader, Devendra Fadnavis, said, "Rahul Gandhi is doing a cover firing because he is aware of his party's imminent defeat in the Delhi elections."