EC rejects Congress charge of ‘extra voters’, explains why 3 lakh names were added after the roll was frozen

The flashpoint began when the Congress, still reeling from its poor showing in the Bihar assembly election, pointed to what looked like a mismatch in official numbers.

In a Facebook post, the party noted that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had pegged Bihar’s electorate at 7.42 crore in an October 6 press note. But after polling ended, the Election Commission’s own press release listed 7.45 crore voters, a jump of roughly three lakh electors.

Congress framed the question sharply: How did Bihar gain three lakh voters in the middle of an election?

EC: ‘Those 3 lakh voters didn’t appear out of nowhere’

By Saturday, the Election Commission had issued a detailed rebuttal.

According to PTI, the 7.42 crore figure, it said, came from the final electoral roll published on September 3