E-voter list pages taken down from several official websites day after Rahul Gandhi's viral video on EC scam

The E-Voter list pages from the official websites of the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan were taken down on Friday, a day after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi made serious allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI) during a press conference. He claimed a “huge criminal fraud” was being carried out through alleged collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission, leading to voter list manipulation across multiple states.

During his presentation, Rahul Gandhi cited a Congress study which claimed that the addition of fake voters in a particular assembly segment led to the BJP winning the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat in 2024. He alleged that assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana were also “stolen” through similar manipulation. Gandhi said he had observed a pattern in which the BJP won parliamentary constituencies by sweeping only one manipulated assembly segment. He also referred to alleged irregularities during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar and named states like Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh as examples of similar trends.

Following his remarks, Chief Electoral Officers of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Haryana issued letters to Rahul Gandhi asking him to submit a signed declaration affirming his claims under oath, as “true to the best of his knowledge and belief.” The letters also asked him to provide names of electors involved so that proceedings could be initiated. The officials said that if his claims are found to be false, it could attract legal action, including imprisonment of up to three years under Sections 227 and 229 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and up to one year under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

On the same day, several users reported that the E-Voter list pages of the CEO websites of Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan became inaccessible or were removed. As of Friday afternoon, the Election Commission and respective state CEO offices had not issued any official statement explaining the reason for the takedown or confirming if it was related to the allegations raised by Rahul Gandhi.