Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has once again launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing it of “match-fixing” the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The Congress leader raised serious objections to the Commission’s instruction to delete all CCTV and webcast footage from polling stations 45 days after polls end, claiming this move is intended to “erase evidence” of possible irregularities.
In a sharp post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Gandhi wrote:
“Voter list? Will not provide machine-readable format. CCTV footage? It was hidden by changing the law. Photo-video of the election? Now, not in 1 year, we will destroy it in 45 days only. The one from whom the answer was needed – is destroying the evidence. It is clear – the match is fixed. And a fixed election is poison for democracy.”
The Election Commission recently directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of states to discard polling station CCTV and webcasting recordings 45 days post-election, unless there is a court challenge to the poll outcome. The Commission justified this by citing concerns over “misuse of footage by non-contestants to spread misinformation”, noting that the footage is an internal tool and not a legal requirement for evidence storage.
In response to these guidelines, Gandhi reiterated his earlier demands that the ECI publish machine-readable, digital voter rolls, criticising the lack of transparency and the alleged manipulation of electoral data—especially citing “suspicious increases” in voter numbers in Maharashtra shortly before elections.
Sources in the Election Commission dismissed Gandhi’s claims, noting that any verified election petition in the High Court could legally access the CCTV footage retained within this timeframe. The poll body also questioned Gandhi’s intention behind seeking this footage, implying that doing so could violate voter privacy protections mandated under electoral laws.
Responding to his allegations, EC sources claimed:
“Rahul Gandhi criticises the Booth Level Agents, Polling, and Counting Agents appointed by his own party in Maharashtra. The ECI protects voter privacy and allows courts to access footage if required, ensuring due process.”
The Commission emphasized that the instruction to limit footage storage was due to “selective and out-of-context misuse” of such content on social media, which does not result in legally actionable outcomes but risks spreading misinformation.
Despite these clarifications, Gandhi’s persistent charge that “the match is fixed” underscores growing friction between the Congress party and India’s apex poll body. He warns that “tampering with electoral integrity is poison for democracy”, calling for greater transparency to uphold public faith in the electoral process.
This controversy adds to a string of grievances raised by the Congress leader, including alleged discrepancies in voter lists, machine-readable roll omissions, and his claims of lakhs of questionable additions to voter rolls in Maharashtra—all contributing, according to Gandhi, to the erosion of public trust in the ECI’s functioning.