Rahul queries election body on voter lists, weighs judicial recourse

MUMBAI: India’s top opposition leader questioned the country’s main election body on Friday over what he said were suspect electoral rolls in the richest Indian state.

Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s Congress party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s main opponent, alleged that more than 3.9 million new names were added to voter lists before local elections last year in Maharashtra state, more than the total number of voters added in the last five years.

Reuters was not able to verify the number.

An alliance led by Gandhi’s party lost the election to an alliance led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, despite being widely projected to win, leading them to repeatedly question the veracity of the poll since the election in November.

The Election Commission, which conducts both state and federal elections across the country, has rejected allegations of irregularities and said in a post on X after Gandhi’s allegations that it would respond in writing.

“We have demanded the voter list of Maharashtra, which the election commission has refused to give us. It is their job to bring about transparency,” Gandhi said at a press conference.

He said the next step for the opposition parties would be to go to the judicial system, suggesting the parties might challenge the election in the courts, but did not elaborate.

Modi’s party has won two key state elections since an underwhelming show in general elections last year and is widely projected to win polls this month for the national capital territory of Delhi, counting for which takes place on Saturday.