File photo of Ajai Rai
Lucknow: UP Congress president Ajay Rai on Wednesday demanded a probe into the entire outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Varanasi, citing a report that two election commissioners had recorded 14 written objections to decisions taken by the poll panel over the past 10 months. Rai alleged that the reported differences within the Election Commission vindicated Congress’ longstanding concerns over the poll body’s functioning. Rai alleged collusion between BJP and Election Commission and said the reported dissent had strengthened the party’s demand for greater scrutiny of the poll process.
Referring to Supreme Court position that decisions of the Election Commission are to be taken by a majority, Rai said all three commissioners had equal voting rights and that either consensus or the majority view should prevail. He alleged that Congress had repeatedly raised concerns over electoral rolls, including the addition of “bogus” voters, deletion of legitimate voters and changes in Form 6 applications used for enrolling new voters. The allegations were made in a statement issued by Rai and have not been independently verified.