Mumbai: Hours after his “vote chori” allegations, the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chocklingam asked Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to provide the details of irregularities in the voter list under oath.
The CEO has warned that providing “false evidence” is punishable under Section 227 of BNS. Further, he has also said that the false evidence in connection with the electoral rolls is punishable under Section 31 of the RP Act, 1950.
In a letter to Rahul Gandhi, the state CEO said, “As you are aware, the Electoral Rolls are prepared in a transparent manner, as per the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Rules, 1960 and the instructions issued by the Election Commission of India from time to time.”
According to the CEO, his office had shared draft Electoral Rolls of the second SSR 2024 with the Congress party in August 2024, and final Electoral Rolls of the second SSR 2024 in September 2024.
After final publication, no first appeal was filed by the Congress with the concerned district magistrates, and no second-level appeals were submitted with the CEO of Maharashtra.
Further, the CEO said that as far as the conduct of elections is concerned, election results can be questioned only by way of an election petition before the High Court.
“It is understood that during a press conference held today, you mentioned the inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors in the Electoral Rolls. You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed declaration/oath under Rule 20 (3)(2) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, along with the name (s) of such elector (s) so that necessary proceedings can be initiated,” said the CEO in his letter.
Earlier, the CEO in June had issued a clarification to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of rigging and match fixing in state assembly elections held last year, saying that the gross addition of electors from Assembly Elections 2019 to Lok Sabha Elections 2024 was 1.39 crore and addition from Lok Sabha 2024 to Assembly 2024 was 48.82 lakh.
“There was a net increase of 32.25 lakh electors from the Assembly Elections 2019 to Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on account of 1.39 crore additions and 1.07 crore deletions. The total addition between the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 and to Assembly Elections 2024 was 48.82 lakh, and deletion was 8 lakh. Hence, the net addition in Electors after the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 was 40.81 lakh. More than 26 lakh of the additions were young electors in the age group of 18 to 29 years,” said the CEO.
With regard to alarming claims made by LoP Rahul Gandhi regarding the addition or deletion of voters in Electoral Rolls, the CEO said: “It is clarified that Indian electoral laws do not provide for any centralised addition or deletion of electors. As per the provisions of Representation of People Act, 1950 and Registration of Electors Rules 1960, the electoral rolls were prepared polling station wise by 288 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), spread across the state, after field verification by nearly one lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and active sharing of information with political parties including INC, with ample opportunities to file objections and appeals. Any addition/deletion/modification in the electoral rolls happens through individual statutory forms filed by eligible persons.”
(IANS)
