BJP leaders react after CSDS psephologist retracts voter anomaly claims in Maharashtra.
The political battle in Maharashtra has grown intense after Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) deleted his tweets claiming sharp voter changes in several Assembly constituencies. The psephologist also issued an official apology for the “error” in his data. His retraction sparked a strong response from the BJP, which accused Congress of spreading a “fake narrative” using unverified numbers.
Earlier, Sanjay Kumar had claimed that constituencies like Nashik West and Hingna saw a 47% and 43% rise in voters, respectively, while Ramtek and Devlali saw a 38% and 36% drop. Congress leaders widely shared these numbers to support their ‘vote fraud’ campaign against the BJP, aiming to question the credibility of the Election Commission.
In his apology, Sanjay Kumar said the error happened while comparing data from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
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He stated, “The data in the row was misread by our data team. The tweet has since been removed. I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation.” This correction has given BJP leaders a new opportunity to attack Congress for its claims.
Senior BJP leader and IT head Amit Malviya criticised the opposition, pointing out that the institution Congress relied on admitted its figures were wrong. Malviya said, “Where does this leave Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, which targeted the Election Commission and went so far as to brand genuine voters as fake? Shameful.”
The BJP demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi, arguing that Congress’s campaign unfairly questioned the integrity of voters and the election process.
Despite Sanjay Kumar’s apology, Congress said the CSDS data was only one part of its evidence. Party spokesperson Sujata Paul told NDTV that the party also used information from its sources and field teams.
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“The CSDS data was just used as additional evidence. And why he apologised, that is his problem, not ours,” she said. Congress continues to claim that its concerns about ‘vote chori’ remain valid.
This episode shows how sensitive voter data is when it comes to shaping political discourse. It shows the conflict between independent research, opposition criticism, and responses from the ruling party.
The Maharashtra Assembly election, coming after the Lok Sabha polls, has already sparked debates about voting patterns and fairness.
The controversy is likely to change how voter data is handled and how research institutes are perceived in politics. Sanjay Kumar's apologies have given the BJP a chance to criticize the Congress, but the opposition may offer more evidence to support its claims.
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