Mumbai: After the heavy defeat in the Vidhan Sabha polls, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has raised question marks over the alleged increase in voter turnout in the last hour on the polling day. The voting percent rose by a whopping eight percent, which comes to 76 lakh votes, he claimed and demanded clarification on it from the Election Commission.
“The discrepancy in the voting percentage during the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections is a serious and alarming matter. According to data released by the EC on the polling day, the voter turnout was 58.22 % by 5 PM. But by 11:30 pm, it had increased to 65.02 %, and by the next day it rose further to 66.05%, reflecting a total increase of 7.83 %. This translates to an increase of nearly 76 lakh votes. How did this increase occur?” asked Patole on Thursday.
“The Election Commission must explain how such an increase was possible. Where are the long queues that would justify this spike in numbers? The Commission should release video footage and photographs from polling stations to ensure transparency,” the Congress leader said in Mumbai. He added that the absence of a post-election press briefing by the ECI further fuels doubts about its impartiality and transparency.
The ECI must clarify this ‘discrepancy’ as it puts a question mark on transparency, he said. “This is theft of people’s vote. We will seek legal recourse and hit the streets to make people aware,” Patole said.
The State Congress chief argued that experts across various fields have raised concerns about the ECI’s handling of the election process. “The Election Commission’s credibility is under question. It has a duty to address doubts raised by political parties and the public alike,” he said, playing a video in which political economist Parakala Prabhakar also questioned the sudden spike in voter turnout.
After its crushing defeat in the Vidhan Sabha polls, many leaders from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have cast aspersions on ECI’s voting process. Patole said the ECI should publish photographs of those booths where polling continued till 11.30 pm.
In the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance made a landslide victory by winning 230 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP won the highest 132 seats, whereas its allies Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP bagged 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
The Congress-led MVA could win only 46b seats, with Congress winning only 16 seats, Sharad Pawar’s NCP just 10 seats and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena winning 20 seats.
