New Delhi: Congress’s allegation about a suspicious surge in the number of voters in the Maharashtra assembly elections took a new turn Monday when party veteran Prithviraj Chavan told the leadership that the spike was possibly on account of multiple registration and voting by same voters.Former CM Chavan, giving data of his constituency, claimed the same voters were found to have voted multiple times in different polling booths. He alleged the trick was pulled off by erasing the ink that is dabbed on the finger after the casting of vote.Given the data presented by Chavan, sources said, the party is likely to scrutinize the polling lists and records of other constituencies in the state.The data was presented in a meeting of senior state leaders chaired by AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala, which included state chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, Nana Patole, Balasasheb Thorat, Rajani Patil, Manikrao Thakre, Varsha Gaekwad and Praniti Shinde.A senior leader said Rahul Gandhi’s charge that there was an increase of 41 lakh voters between 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the assembly polls five months later is correct, but crucial to the conundrum is who were these new voters. “How was it done? Are they BJP workers? We have to crack this. The sample of one seat shows that we have a line to probe and we will do it in other seats,” he added.With the coming local body elections, the state leaders gave the Congress leadership a mixed view on whether to continue with the Maha Vikas Aghadi and contest jointly with Shiv Sena(UBT) and NCP(SP), or to go it alone. Mumbai leaders are learnt to have demanded that Congress contest the BMC polls separately, arguing that Shiv Sena (UBT) votes do not shift to Congress in a pact. “The leadership will take the final decision in consultation with alliance partners and state leaders,” a source said.
