In a clear rejection of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s request for poll footage, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday said that such a move is violative of privacy and security concerns of voters.

ECI sources say that calls for public release of footage may be politically motivated, aiming to harass or profile voters, especially in booths where a party performs poorly.

Earlier this month, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha had demanded that the ECI publish consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states including Maharashtra, and release post-5pm CCTV footage from Maharashtra polling booths.

The Congress leader has accused the BJP of rigging the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections through a five-step process, including tampering with the Election Commission and inflating voter turnout.

EC’s take on releasing footage from polling stations According to news agency PTI, the EC officials said while such demand suits their narrative in making it sound quite genuine and in the interest of voters and safeguarding the democratic process, it is, in fact, aimed at achieving exactly the “opposite objective”.

Officials claimed that what is veiled as a very logical demand is actually “entirely contrary” to the privacy and security concerns of voters, the legal position laid down in the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951 and the directions of the Supreme Court.

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Sharing the footage, which would enable easy identification of the electors by any group or an individual, would leave both the elector who has voted as well the elector who has not voted vulnerable to pressure, discrimination and intimidation by anti-social elements, they asserted.

Creating an instance, they said if a particular political party gets the lesser number of votes in a particular booth, it would easily be able to identify, through the CCTV footage, which elector has voted and which elector has not, and, thereafter, may harass or intimidate them, according to the report.

Maintaining privacy and secrecy of the elector is non-negotiable for the EC and it has never compromised on this essential tenet laid down in the law as well upheld by the Supreme Court, the functionaries said.

Rahul Gandhi vs ECI The Congress leader had alleged that the assembly elections, held in Maharashtra and Haryana last November, were “rigged” in favour of the BJP. The Congress and its allies had suffered a massive defeat in both elections.

In an written op-ed titled ‘Match-fixing Maharashtra’, Rahul had accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections through a five-step process, including tampering with the voter turnout.

The EC had, in response to Rahul’s allegations, released a point-wise rebuttal, labelling them “absurd” and saying that Rahul had raised “unsubstantial allegations”.

“Any misinformation being spread, by anyone, is not only a sign of disrespect towards law, but also brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by their own political party and demotivates lakhs of election staff who work untiringly and transparently during elections,” the EC’s statement said.

“After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised, is completely absurd,” it said.

Rahul then slammed the poll body, stating that “unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions.”

While demanding the EC release post-5pm CCTV footage from the polling booths, Rahul said in a post on X, “Evasion won’t protect your credibility. Telling the truth will.”