Allegations of large-scale voter list manipulation have triggered a major political storm in Maharashtra’s Rajura assembly constituency, raising concerns about the transparency of elections in the region. The controversy, which has been unfolding since the 2024 Assembly elections in Chandrapur district, has now drawn the attention of senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, who accuse the ruling forces of engaging in “vote theft” by enrolling fake voters through fraudulent means.
The issue first surfaced when senior Congress leader Subhash Dhote raised objections to irregularities in the voter rolls during the 2024 polls. Acting on his complaint, Rajura Tehsildar Omprakash Gond filed an FIR against 20 individuals allegedly linked to bogus voter registrations. The irregularities reportedly involved the misuse of mobile numbers and OTPs to create fraudulent entries in the electoral list. However, despite nearly a year having passed since the complaint, the investigation has made little progress.
A probe by Aaj Tak revealed glaring discrepancies in the FIR itself, with several listed names, phone numbers, and addresses either fake, untraceable, or registered in other states. One individual admitted that he had received an Election Commission OTP 11 months ago and shared it with a caller, but insisted he had no knowledge of being added to the voter list. Investigators discovered multiple entries with bizarre names such as “Vakil,” “America Rai,” “Ayodhya Prasad,” and even combinations of random letters like “YUH UQJJW,” further fueling suspicions of systematic manipulation.
Congress leaders argue that these fake additions had a direct impact on the outcome of the election. Rajura, historically a Congress stronghold, was won by BJP candidate Devrao Bhogade in 2024 by a narrow margin of 3,054 votes. Complaints of irregularities affecting nearly 18,000 votes prompted officials to annul 6,853 fraudulent entries, but Congress maintains that over 11,000 more suspicious votes were allowed, casting serious doubt on the legitimacy of the final result.
Congress leader Sachin Bhoyar from Gadchandur alleged that the suspicious entries appeared in a matter of just seven days and pointed to multiple voter IDs issued under identical names but with different addresses and EPIC numbers. He suggested that the operation may have involved the coordination of a central agency working with local actors to engineer the fraud.
Law enforcement authorities have acknowledged the difficulties in pursuing the investigation, noting that they had twice requested data from the Election Commission regarding the IP addresses used for the fraudulent enrolments but were still awaiting a response. Without this crucial information, tracing the origin of the fake voter registrations has proved challenging.
Former MLA Subhash Dhote reiterated that the manipulation was an intentional attempt to subvert democracy through “vote theft,” stressing that while some bogus votes had been removed from the rolls, a large number were still unaccounted for. He and other Congress leaders continue to demand a thorough probe into the matter, insisting that the sanctity of the electoral process must be upheld.
With the allegations still unresolved and calls for accountability growing louder, the Rajura controversy has not only highlighted vulnerabilities in the voter registration system but also sparked broader questions about the fairness of elections in Maharashtra. Until the investigation makes headway and the Election Commission provides key data, the issue is likely to remain a flashpoint in the state’s political discourse.
