Rahul Gandhi Alleges Election Commission Bias During Boston Address:

While addressing Indians in Boston, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, targeted the Election Commission, accusing it of losing its autonomy. For the purpose of supporting his arguments, he cited the Maharashtra assembly elections.

As explained by Rahul Gandhi, the voter turnout statistics put forward by the Election Commission were beyond physically possible limits. He noted that allegedly, more voters cast their ballots than the actual adult population in the state. He also pointed out that the official statistics suggest between 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, 6.5 million people voted, a number, he maintains, is unobtainable under ordinary conditions.

Supriya Sahu on Issues Regarding Voting Schedules

The Congress MP described how voting for one person is estimated to take around three minutes. In his estimation, voters' turnout as recorded in the last two hours would mean that voting could only cease at 2 a.m. Massachusetts time, which is impossible. Also, he suggested that when his party sought video footage substantiating these claims, the Commission rejected the petition and changed the law to make such petitions irrelevant in the future.

Reply from the Election Commission

The Election Commission, as stated by political parties including Congress, claimed that the voter list allegations were devoid of facts. News agency ANI earlier reported that during the last Special Summary Revision in January 2025, there were a scant number of appeals registered under the act for correcting or adding information to the voter data.

Maintaining and updating the electoral roll by including new eligible voters and removing unqualified ones is done during the Special Summary Revision to avoid any misuse of the electoral system. It ensures that elections are conducted in a clean and open manner.