The Election Commission of India (ECI) has firmly rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of “industrial-scale rigging” in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, asserting that all polls are conducted strictly in accordance with parliamentary laws and established rules.
In a pointed response, the ECI has invited the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition to discuss his concerns in person, while defending its decision to limit access to polling station CCTV footage to protect voter privacy.
On June 12, the ECI emailed Gandhi in response to an article he penned in a leading daily, detailing the decentralised nature of India’s electoral process. The poll body highlighted that Maharashtra’s elections involved over 1,00,186 Booth Level Officers, 288 Electoral Registration Officers, 139 General Observers, 41 Police Observers, 71 Expenditure Observers, and 288 Returning Officers.
Additionally, 1,08,026 Booth Level Agents, including 28,421 from the Congress, were appointed by political parties to monitor the process. “We assume any grievances would have been raised through election petitions filed in the high court by Congress candidates,” the ECI noted, urging Gandhi to share specific issues directly with the commission or meet at a mutually convenient time.
Gandhi’s allegations resurfaced on Saturday, June 21, when he posted on X, accusing the ECI of obstructing transparency: “Voter list? No machine-readable format. CCTV footage? Hidden by tweaking laws. Election videos? Now deleted in 45 days, not a year. The one meant to provide answers is erasing evidence.” His remarks targeted the ECI’s recent decision to retain video footage for only 45 days post-results, down from six months to a year for various stages like nominations, campaigning, polling, and counting.
The ECI, in a robust defence on Saturday, argued that sharing CCTV footage could compromise voter privacy by revealing who voted and who didn’t, exposing them to harassment by political parties or anti-social elements.
A senior ECI official explained, “If a party gets fewer votes at a booth, access to footage could help them identify and intimidate voters or non-voters. This seemingly ‘logical’ demand hides motives that undermine voter security.” The official stressed that the Representation of the People Act, 1950/1951, and Supreme Court directives prioritise voter privacy.
The ECI clarified that CCTV footage, an internal management tool not mandated by law, is retained for 45 days, aligning with the window for filing election petitions. If no petition is filed, the footage is destroyed to prevent misuse by non-contestants for spreading misinformation. In cases where petitions are lodged, footage is preserved and provided to courts upon request. Last December, the Centre amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict public access to certain electronic records, including CCTV and webcasting footage, citing risks of malicious narratives.