Congress's Dhote seeks probe into alleged bogus voter registrations in Rajura, action on FIR 0629

Chandrapur District Congress Committee president and former MLA Subhash Dhote has submitted a memorandum to the Collector and District Election Officer, Chandrapur. In it he has sought a thorough investigation into alleged bogus voter registrations in the Rajura assembly constituency during the 2024 general election to the Assembly, and immediate legal action against the guilty. He has also asked that the IP addresses used for the fake registrations be made available.

Dhote expressed strong displeasure that no concrete action has been taken against those concerned even though a case was registered at Rajura police station on October 19, 2024, under FIR number 0629. The FIR was registered on the complaint of the Rajura tehsildar and complainant Omprakash Gond. According to the memorandum, even after such a long time, no concrete information has emerged about the investigation and action.

The memorandum says that alleged irregularities occurred before the 2024 Assembly election, when new voters were being registered in the Rajura-70 assembly constituency through an online system called ERO NET. A complaint about this was made on October 15, 2024, to the electoral registration officer and the District Election Officer. The memorandum states that 6,853 new registration applications were rejected by October 19, 2024.

It is alleged that names were entered on the basis of alleged forged documents, even though proof of residence and valid identity documents were missing. Dhote says that when so many applications were rejected after the complaint, the names added to the voter list up to September 30, 2024, also need to be examined.

The memorandum also cites figures. At the time of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Chandrapur district had 17,92,147 voters, which rose to 18,50,102 by the Assembly election, an increase of 57,955 voters. Constituency-wise, the increase was 11,667 in Rajura, 17,191 in Chandrapur, 11,113 in Ballarpur, 4,188 in Brahmapuri, 3,732 in Chimur and 11,064 in Warora. The demand is that the administration conduct a transparent inquiry into the reason for this rise and the truth about the registrations.

Dhote has also questioned the figures from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). At the time of the 2024 Assembly election, 3,25,278 voters were recorded in the Rajura constituency. According to the 2026 SIR figures given in the memorandum, 3,10,584 voters are shown. Of these, 2,72,852 have been digitised and 37,732 voters have been recorded as "uncollectable".

By the memorandum's calculation, after subtracting the 2,72,852 digitised and the 37,732 uncollectable from the 3,25,278 voters of 2024, 14,694 voters need to be accounted for. It demands that the administration make public full information on where these voters went, through what process they were registered, and what emerged about their status in the current revision.

According to Dhote's memorandum, if the IP address details are obtained, they could help establish where and through whom the online applications were filled. It therefore seeks an examination of the relevant ERO NET entries, the documents attached to the applications and the available digital evidence to trace the guilty.

Dhote said the electoral roll is an important foundation of the democratic process, so the alleged irregularities cannot be ignored. He said a fair investigation is necessary before anyone is held guilty, but delay in the probe could raise suspicion among people. He has demanded a fair and thorough investigation, action against the guilty as per law, clarity on the present status of the probe into FIR number 0629, and provision of the IP addresses as per rules.

A copy of the memorandum has also been sent to the Chief Electoral Officer of the State of Maharashtra and the Chandrapur District Superintendent of Police. Dhote said the administration should take immediate steps to bring out the truth of the Rajura assembly constituency registration case and to maintain transparency in the election process and citizens' trust.