Explained: Did Maharashtra’s voter additions trigger ECI checks?

After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted Newslaundry’s investigation of voter manipulations in Nagpur South West – Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis’ own seat – it sparked a political face-off. Fadnavis hit back, calling the claims baseless, accusing the Congress of misleading the public.

Our report found an 8.25 percent spike in voters in Fadnavis’ constituency in the six months between the Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls, without the ECI’s mandatory verification in such cases, as claimed by some poll staff. In a sample of 50 booths, we found that four thousand voters had blank addresses. 

The CM claimed that 25 constituencies of the state saw more than an 8 percent voter increase between the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections, and five of these seats were won by the Congress. To back his claims, he listed five examples: West Nagpur, North Nagpur, Vadgaon Sheri, Malad West, and Mumbra.

We looked closer and found that the CM’s numbers didn’t add up. For example, the electorate in Malad West rose by 6 percent, not 11 percent as claimed by the CM. 

Newslaundry had earlier investigated discrepancies in voter rolls in three Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh through our series “Broken Ballots”.

We break down the controversy around Maharashtra voter rolls in this video. Watch.