'Spreading misinformation sign of ... ': EC sources reject Rahul Gandhi's claims on electoral rolls in Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations of abnormal voter turnout in the last two hours of Maharashtra assembly polls and said the Congress leader's "unsubstantiated allegations against the electoral rolls were an affront to the rule of law." Reacting strongly to the charges, the poll body asserted that any "misinformation" being spread was a sign of disrespect towards the law and hurt the efforts of political workers and polling personnel.
"After any unfavourable verdict by voters, trying to defame the Election Commission (EC) by saying that it had been compromised is completely absurd. The Indian National Congress' nominated candidates or their authorised agents did not raise any substantiated allegations with regard to any kind of abnormal voting at the time of scrutiny before the returning officer (RO) and the election observers on the next day," the EC sources told news agencies refuting the charges made by the Congress leader.
Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the diaspora in Boston in the United States, had alleged that the Election Commission (EC) in India was "compromised" and had claimed that "in simple terms, more people voted in the Maharashtra assembly elections than there were adults in the state."
"The Election Commission gave us a voting figure for 5:30 pm, and between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, 65 lakh voters voted. This is physically impossible to happen. For a voter to vote, it takes approximately three minutes, and if you do the math, it would mean that there were lines of voters till 2am, but this did not happen,” Rahul had said.
"When we asked them for the videography, they not only refused but also changed the law so that now we are not allowed to ask for the videography,” he had claimed.
"It is very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, and it is very clear that there is something wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times,” he had said.
Rejecting Rahul's claims, the EC sources underlined that 6,40,87,588 (6.40 crore) electors who reached the polling stations from 7am to 6pm voted in the Maharashtra polls. About 58 lakh votes were polled per hour on an average, they said. Going by the average trend, nearly 1.16 crore voters could have voted in the last two hours, they added.
"Therefore, casting of 65 lakh votes by electors in two hours is much below the average hourly voting trend," an Election Commission (EC) functionary pointed out. The sources noted that voting progressed in the presence of polling agents formally appointed by candidates or political parties in every polling booth.
The BJP had reacted strongly to Rahul's charges and called him a "traitor." The party linked Rahul's criticism to the Enforcement Directorate's action in the National Herald case, alleging he had not only "insulted" the country's institutions on foreign soil but had also indulged in corruption, and said he and his mother will be "sent to jail" for "embezzlement".
(With inputs from agencies)