A fresh controversy has erupted in Maharashtra’s Rajura assembly constituency over alleged irregularities in the voter list, with senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, raising concerns of “vote theft”. They have cited manipulated electoral rolls and suspicious enrolments during the 2024 Assembly elections.

The issue initially surfaced when senior Congress leader Subhash Dhote flagged discrepancies in the voter list. Following his complaint, Rajura Tehsildar Omprakash Gond filed an FIR, naming 20 individuals allegedly involved in fraudulent voter registrations using mobile numbers.

Despite the filing, police investigations have reportedly made little progress in nearly a year. In an report, Aaj Tak, the sister channel of India Today, located one individual mentioned in the FIR. Speaking anonymously, he said:

"I received an OTP from the Election Commission 11 months ago, and soon after, a stranger called and asked for the OTP, so I gave it. I have no other knowledge. I did not apply to be listed on the voter roll, nor did I know my name was in the FIR."

The investigation by the Aaj Tak team revealed that many names, phone numbers, and addresses in the FIR were fictitious or untraceable. In one instance, a number registered in Gujarat had no connection to Rajura, suggesting that OTPs sent to random phone numbers may have been used to enrol fake voters.

Rajura, historically a Congress stronghold, saw BJP candidate Devrao Bhogade win the 2024 Assembly election by a margin of 3,054 votes. Election officials annulled 6,853 votes out of 18,000 disputed entries. However, Congress leaders claim that over 11,000 fraudulent votes were cast and have questioned the legitimacy of the final result.