The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): On Wednesday, the Congress party voiced concerns about the significant disparity between real-time voter turnout data and the final figures released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), suggesting that this discrepancy has caused considerable worry among voters about the poll body’s transparency.
Pawan Khera, the head of Congress’s media and publicity department, highlighted a difference of approximately 1.7 crore votes, which he termed unprecedented. “Voters are worried about the strange goings on in the Election Commission through the four phases of voting. First, the Election Commission takes 10-11 days to bring out the final figure of voting and then the difference between real-time data and the final figure turns out to be 1.7 crore votes. This is truly unprecedented,” Khera said on X. He also pointed out concerns about missing EVMs.
Jairam Ramesh, Congress’s general-secretary (organisation), noted that this discrepancy translates to an increase of 28,000 votes per Lok Sabha seat, particularly in states where the BJP is expected to lose seats. “This difference of 1.07 crore overall translates into an increase of 28,000 in each LS seat. This is HUGE. The discrepancy is maximum in states where BJP is expected to lose seats heavily. What is happening?” Ramesh questioned.
Other opposition parties have also raised issues with the ECI’s delay in releasing final voter turnout figures. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) specifically questioned why the BJP has not sought this information. TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale shared that his Right to Information (RTI) application filed on 1 May seeking voter turnout details had gone unanswered by the ECI. Gokhale asked for information on the total number of electors, voters, and turnout in the first two phases of the Parliamentary elections.
Despite earlier demands from opposition parties for the ECI to release actual voter turnout numbers, the ECI had responded that booth-wise data is available through Form 17C, provided to candidates immediately after voting ends. However, Gokhale criticized this approach, calling it “very bizarre” and “sinister” that the ECI had suddenly stopped disclosing these numbers.
“Why is the Election Commission intentionally hiding voter turnout numbers? For the first time, the ECI has refused to publish data for the ‘total number of voters’ and ‘total number of votes polled’ for constituencies that have voted in Phases 1-5 during the current Lok Sabha Elections,” Gokhale said on X. He questioned why the BJP is the only party that has not demanded this data and called for greater transparency from the ECI.
The ECI, in its defense, stated that it attaches “due importance” to the timely release of voter turnout figures and assured that detailed booth-wise data is accessible to candidates as required by law.
The Lok Sabha elections are being conducted in seven phases, with results scheduled to be declared on June 4.