'Match is fixed': Rahul Gandhi alleges EC 'deleting evidence' instead of giving answers

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched a fresh attack on the Election Commission, accusing it of "destroying" evidence when it is required to "provide answers", as the poll body instructed its officers to destroy CCTV, webcasting and video footage of the elections after 45 days.

The top Congress leader's remarks came as the EC asked Chief Electoral Officers in a letter on May 30 cited misuse of footage by non-contestants for "spreading misinformation and malicious narratives" on social media by "selective and out-of-context use" to destroy such footage after 45 days.

"Voter list? They won’t provide it in a machine-readable format. CCTV footage? They changed the law to hide it. Photos and videos of the election? Now, instead of keeping them for a year, they’ll erase them in just 45 days," Rahul posted on 'X'.

"The very ones who should provide answers -- are destroying the evidence. It’s clearly visible -- the match is fixed. And a rigged election is poison for democracy," he said.

In its letter, the EC had said it had earlier issued instructions for recording various stages of the election process through multiple recording devices -- photography, videography, CCTV and webcasting during the election process though electoral laws do not mandate such recordings.

The poll body uses them as an internal management tool during various stages of the electoral process, it said adding, "however, the recent misuse of this content by non-contestants for spreading misinformation and malicious narratives on social media by selective and out-of-context use of such content, which will not lead to any legal outcome, has prompted a review".

It has asked state poll chiefs that the CCTV data, webcasting data and photography of election processes at various stages will be preserved for 45 days and "if no election petition is filed in respect of a particular constituency, then the said data may be destroyed". Any person can file an "election petition" challenging the poll verdict in the concerned High Court within 45 days