Nagpur: The Congress party submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI), raising serious concerns about discrepancies in the polling and counting data related to the recently concluded Maharashtra State Assembly elections. The party has requested an in-person meeting with the Election Commission to present the relevant evidence and raise constituency-wise issues.

“We write to apprise you of certain serious and grave inconsistencies which are being revealed in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently concluded Maharashtra State Assembly Elections. These glaring inconsistencies which strike at the very root of a transparent, free and fair electoral system are not based on any biased motives or far-fetched presumptions but have been extracted from the information made publicly available by this Hon’ble Commission. In fact, questions relating to Maharashtra’s voter data have also been raised by a former Chief Election Commissioner, hence we are bringing the same to the attention of this Hon’ble Commission...,” the memorandum states.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole also voiced his concerns, suggesting that the entire election process was questionable. “There is a huge discrepancy between the polling done, the announced statistics and the election results, and doubts are being raised by the media, various social organizations and research persons that the rules have been flouted by the Election Commission itself, which declared transparent elections,” Patole said on X (formerly Twitter).

Patole pointed to an alarming inconsistency in voter turnout figures. “Election Commission, at 5 pm (20th November) when they showed the voting percentage, it was 58%, at 11:59 pm, the number was 65.2%, so the question is there would have been long queues...where were those long queues, we have sought such videos from Election Commission. Next day 3 pm, they tweeted that 66.5% voting took place, which means by the next day they increased the voting percentage by 1.3%...we want to ask Election Commission, where did this voting happen?” Patole added.

On Thursday, Patole had further demanded clarification from the ECI regarding the rise in voter turnout by over 7% after polling for the assembly elections had concluded on November 20. Addressing a press conference, he questioned the discrepancies in the polling figures and suggested that they cast doubt on the credibility of the Election Commission's handling of the process.