Maharashtra Elections: Rahul Alleges EC Is 'Deleting Evidence' On Denying CCTV Footage Demand; EC Officials Cite Privacy Issues

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the Election Commission of India of "deleting evidence" when it was required to "provide answers" after the poll body instructed its officers to destroy CCTV, webcasting and video footage of the elections after 45 days.

Election Commission officials on Saturday said such a move is violative of privacy and security concerns of voters. They said while such demand suits their narrative in making it sound quite genuine and in the interest of voters and safeguarding the democratic process, it is, in fact, aimed at achieving exactly the "opposite objective".

"Voter list? Will not give machine-readable format. CCTV footage? Hidden by changing the law. Election photos and videos? Now they will be deleted in 45 days, not 1 year. The one who was supposed to provide answers - is the one deleting the evidence," Gandhi alleged in a post on X.

"It is clear that the match is fixed. And a fixed election is poison for democracy," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha posted in Hindi.

Gandhi has been demanding voter lists, poll data and video footage from the election commission, alleging irregularities in Maharashtra assembly elections.

The Congress leader's reaction came after the poll body instructed its state poll officers to destroy CCTV, webcasting and video footage of the election process after 45 days if the verdict is not challenged in courts within that period, saying it feared the use of its electronic data to create "malicious narratives".

In a letter to state chief electoral officers on May 30, the EC said it has issued instructions for recording various stages of the election process through multiple recording devices -- photography, videography, CCTV, and webcasting during the election process.

While electoral laws do not mandate such recordings, the commission uses them as an internal management tool during various stages of the electoral process.

"However, the recent misuse of this content by non-contestants for spreading misinformation and malicious narratives on social media by selective and out-of-context use of such content, which will not lead to any legal outcome, has prompted a review," it said.

It has now told its state poll chiefs that the CCTV data, webcasting data and photography of election processes at various stages will be preserved for 45 days.

"If no election petition is filed in respect of a particular constituency, then the said data may be destroyed," it instructed.

Any person can file an "election petition" challenging the poll verdict in the concerned high court within 45 days.

Officials claimed that what is veiled as a very logical demand is actually "entirely contrary" to the privacy and security concerns of voters, the legal position laid down in the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951 and the directions of the Supreme Court.