The Rajura Assembly constituency in Maharashtra is once again at the center of a major controversy. Following a press conference by Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Thursday, September 18, 2025, where he highlighted alleged “voter fraud” not only in Rajura but also in Karnataka’s Aland, the phones at Congress leader Subhash Dhote’s office have been ringing incessantly.
Mr. Dhote, who narrowly lost the Assembly election to the BJP’s Devrao Bhongle by just 3,050 votes in this Chandrapur district constituency, stated that he has been vocal about these concerns since last year. He claims that attempts were made to improperly add almost 18,000 fake names to the electoral rolls between the Lok Sabha election in April-May 2024 and the Assembly election in November. While the Congress’s swift action successfully blocked the registration of nearly 6,800 fraudulent votes, serious questions remain regarding the addition of another 11,036 names during the same period.
In response, the Rajura Sub-Divisional Officer’s office, which also serves as the Electoral Registration Authority, firmly denied any wrongful voter additions. They emphasized that “proactive and timely administrative measures successfully prevented bogus voter registrations” within the constituency.
A statement issued on Thursday, September 18, 2025, from the Electoral Registration Officer in Rajura, Chandrapur, clarified the situation: “Thanks to diligent verification and prompt action by the administration, attempts at fraudulent voter registration in the 70–Rajura Assembly Constituency were averted. Between October 1st and 17th, 2024, we received 7,592 new voter registration applications. Upon thorough review by Booth Level Officers, significant inconsistencies were discovered. A total of 6,861 applications were rejected because applicants either didn’t live at the provided address, were fictitious, or lacked proper photographs and supporting documents. Consequently, these applications were rejected, and no entries were made to the electoral roll.”
The statement further detailed, “Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the District Election Officer directed the Electoral Registration Officer and Sub-Divisional Officer, Rajura, to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all applications and to initiate criminal proceedings under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Information Technology Act, 2000. As a result, Crime No. 629/2024 has been lodged at Rajura Police Station, and law enforcement is currently pursuing further inquiries.”
Addressing the specific allegation of 11,036 names being added to the voters’ list between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the District Information Officer clarified that this represented “a natural increase resulting from the summary revision process.”
Rajura SDO Ravindra Mane echoed this explanation during his conversation with The Hindu. He explained, “Previously, there was only one specific date for voter list additions. Now, we have four qualifying dates: January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1. This means additions to the electoral roll occur regularly as part of a natural summary revision. The 11,064 new names on the voters’ list are entirely valid. While the Congress leader claims these names are bogus and insists on an investigation, we have already informed him that these votes are legitimate. Regarding the other 6,853 names, they were indeed found to be fraudulent, and a formal complaint has already been lodged. Mr. Dhote contacted us in August this year, and we provided him with these details.”
Congress Stands Firm on its Allegations
Despite the official explanations, Mr. Dhote expressed frustration that the police investigation into the alleged fraud has not yielded significant progress. He reiterated, “There has been an addition of over 18,000 bogus voters. After the Lok Sabha election, as our party workers began preparing for the Assembly election, they reported seeing 500-600 fraudulent votes being added daily. These voters were often Telugu-speaking individuals, clearly not from our region. We formally raised this issue after October 17, 2024, which led to the removal of over 6,000 bogus names and the registration of an FIR. However, what we initially overlooked was that another 11,000-plus fraudulent voters were added before October 17. Why has no action been taken concerning these additions? I lost the election by a very narrow margin of just over 3,000 votes, and these irregularities could have easily swayed the outcome.”