As vote counting continues for the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut claimed that the "Maharashtra pattern" of alleged electoral malpractice is now being applied in Delhi. Speaking to the media, Raut accused the Election Commission (EC) of turning a blind eye to the manipulation of voters' lists.
"Rahul Gandhi, Supriya Sule and I held a press conference in Delhi yesterday on the Election Commission and government's attitude towards elections... how fraud in voters' list is taking place, and this Maharashtra pattern is new, and I also said that the same pattern has been implemented in Delhi. EC was sitting with its eyes closed. These 39 lakh votes from Maharashtra will shift to Bihar, and some of them will go to Delhi... PM has been sitting in Delhi for 10 years but couldn't win there, so his wish was to win there. Hence, attempts are being made towards that, although the final results are not out yet. There is a close contest; it would have been good if AAP and Congress had come together..."
On Friday February 7, 2025, Gandhi, along with Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Supriya Sule of the NCP-SCP, raised concerns about a surge in new voters in Maharashtra. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, he claimed that 39 lakh voters were added to the state's electoral rolls within five months of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"In five years between the 2019 Vidhan Sabha and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 32 lakh voters were added in Maharashtra. However, in just five months between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, 39 lakh new voters were added. Who are these people?" Gandhi asked.
He also questioned why the number of registered voters in Maharashtra exceeded the state's total adult population. "We have studied the voter lists and voting patterns in detail. Our team has found several irregularities. The number of voters supporting Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP-SCP has not decreased between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections," he said.
Gandhi demanded access to voter lists from both elections. "We have been telling the Election Commission that we are finding anomalies. We need the voter list with names and addresses for both the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections to understand who these new voters are," he said.
The Election Commission responded in a post on X, saying political parties are priority stakeholders. "The voters are the prime stakeholders. The Commission deeply values views, suggestions, and questions from political parties. A written response with full factual and procedural details, uniformly adopted across the country, will be provided," the post stated.
Meanwhile, as of early trends, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has crossed the majority mark with leads in 44 of Delhi's 70 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is leading in 25 seats, and Congress is ahead in one seat. This sets the stage for a tight contest with BJP looking to return to power in Delhi after 27 years. If AAP holds on to its position, it would continue its reign in the capital, having been in power since 2015.
Exit polls have predicted a close race, with many indicating a slight edge for BJP over the incumbent AAP. A victory for BJP would break the decade-long dominance of AAP and its leader Arvind Kejriwal in the city. On the other hand, the Congress party, which ruled Delhi for 15 years until 2013, hopes to make a comeback after failing to win any seats in the last two elections.