Maha Congress to Protest Vote-Theft Pattern in Elections

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress will stage torch-light processions across the state on 12 June to spotlight what it calls a “vote-theft pattern” in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, a practice it claims has put the credibility of the Election Commission of India (ECI) at risk. Announcing the protests on Saturday, state Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal accused BJP leaders of answering questions that should be fielded by the ECI and asked whether the same “vote-fraud blueprint” was being prepared for the forthcoming Bihar polls.

Sapkal’s remarks follow an opinion piece by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in, where he described last year’s Maharashtra Assembly poll as “match-fixing” that could be replicated wherever the BJP faces defeat. Despite repeated complaints about suspicious spikes in voter turnout, Sapkal said, no formal investigation has begun. He noted that Maharashtra’s electoral roll grew by 31 lakh voters between 2019 and 2024 — a routine five-year rise — but inexplicably surged by an additional 41 lakh in the five months separating the general election from the state polls. Turnout patterns were also irregular, he added, citing ECI data that show a modest one-percent fluctuation in earlier elections versus an unprecedented jump from 58.22 per cent at 5 pm on polling day to a final figure of 66.5 per cent in 2024.

Sapkal argued that amendments allowing the ECI to withhold CCTV footage and other raw data have “raised serious questions about transparency” and asked why Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis respond to queries “meant for the Election Commission.” ECI sources have dismissed Gandhi’s allegations as “absurd,” insisting that attacking the panel after an unfavourable verdict from voters undermines democratic norms.