The Lok Sabha elections in the country have concluded with two phases of voting held on April 19 and April 26. Subsequently, on April 30, the Election Commission released the voter turnout data for both phases. The Election Commission reported a voter turnout of 66.14% in the first phase and 66.71% in the second phase. However, these figures have raised questions from the Congress party.
Kamal Nath, the former Chief Minister
Expressed his concerns regarding the delayed release of voting data by the Election Commission. He noted that it took the Election Commission 11 days to release the voter turnout percentage for the first phase of voting, while the data for the second phase was released with a delay of 4 days. He highlighted that in his 45 years of political experience, such a delay in releasing voting data had never been witnessed before.
Nath emphasized the sudden emergence of new voter turnout figures after 11 days of polling, indicating an increase of up to 3% from the initial figures released through newspapers on the second day of voting. He expressed surprise at this discrepancy and hoped that it was merely a technical error rather than a result of political maneuvering.
The Opposition has also raised questions regarding this data discrepancy
Leaders from various opposition parties, including the CPI(M), TMC, and Shiv Sena, have questioned the Election Commission about the significant increase in voter turnout figures compared to the initial estimates.
The delay and discrepancies in the release of voting data have led to concerns about the transparency and integrity of the Election Commission’s procedures. Kamal Nath’s questioning of the voter turnout percentage increase further adds to the scrutiny faced by the Election Commission over the conduct of the Lok Sabha elections.