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EC has reportedly cited privacy issues in sharing the CCTV footage of webcasting of the polling stations after a demand was made by Rahul Gandhi alleging that polling booths in Maharashtra were rigged.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has reportedly declined Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s demand to release CCTV footage of polling booths in Maharashtra, citing privacy concerns and legal limitations. The footage in question pertains to the webcasting from polling stations during the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Rahul Gandhi vs Election Commission
In a sharp escalation of his attack on the Election Commission, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged deliberate efforts to erase key evidence of electoral wrongdoing. Posting on X, Gandhi wrote, “Voter list? They won’t give it in machine-readable format. CCTV footage? Hidden by changing the law. Poll photos and videos? Now to be deleted not after 1 year, but in just 45 days.”
He further added, “The very authority from which answers were expected is destroying the proof. It’s clear now, this is match-fixing. And a fixed election is poison for democracy.” Gandhi’s remarks come amid his ongoing allegations of electoral manipulation in the 2024 Maharashtra elections and renewed calls for transparency.
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Rahul Gandhi earlier accused the Commission of avoiding accountability. “Dear EC, you are a Constitutional body. Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions,” Gandhi posted on social media.
He had demanded that the ECI release “all post-5pm CCTV footage from Maharashtra polling booths” and publish consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the recent Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, including Maharashtra.
Rahul Gandhi's allegations
Gandhi, currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had earlier alleged a five-step rigging process involving fake voters, bloated turnout figures, and selective tampering, which he warned could repeat in the upcoming Bihar elections. He called the alleged manipulation a form of “match-fixing” that threatened the credibility of Indian democracy.
The ECI, in its earlier response, had dismissed Gandhi’s charges as “unsubstantiated allegations” and “completely absurd.” It referred to its December 24, 2024, communication to the Indian National Congress, made public on its website, in which it claimed all necessary facts had already been shared.
“It appears that all these facts are being ignored while raising such issues again and again,” the Commission had said, accusing Gandhi of “disrespect towards law” and attempting to mislead the public.
As of now, the Commission has not directly responded to Gandhi’s latest call for transparency. However, it maintains that releasing CCTV footage from polling booths would violate voter privacy and contravene existing legal provisions.
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