Maha Poll Row: Expert Apologises For ‘Misread’ Data On Voter Surge, BJP Turns Heat On Congress

The debate over India’s electoral credibility took a new turn on Tuesday after political analyst Sanjay Kumar, co-director of Lokniti–CSDS, issued a public apology for sharing incorrect voter figures from Maharashtra. Kumar had posted data on X (formerly Twitter) that appeared to show dramatic fluctuations in voter numbers between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections—claims that quickly sparked political controversy.

His figures suggested voter increases of 47.38% in Nashik West and 43.08% in Hingna, alongside sharp drops in seats such as Ramtek and Devlali, as per a report on India Today. The unusual swings raised questions about potential voter roll manipulation, with the Congress party citing the data as fresh proof of “vote chori” and accusing the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP.

‘Error Occured’: Co-Director Of Lokniti–CSDS Issues Apology

Facing mounting criticism, Kumar deleted the posts and issued a clarification. Taking to X, Sanjay Kumar said, “I sincerely apologize for the tweets posted regarding Maharashtra elections. Error occurred while comparing data of 2024 LS and 2024 AS. The data in row was misread by our Data team. The tweet has since been removed. I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation.”

I sincerely apologize for the tweets posted regarding Maharashtra elections.
Error occurred while comparing data of 2024 LS and 2024 AS. The data in row was misread by our Data team.
The tweet has since been removed.
I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation.

— Sanjay Kumar (@sanjaycsds) August 19, 2025

BJP Hits At Congress

The BJP, however, rejected the explanation. Amit Malviya, who heads the party’s IT cell, described the apology as half-hearted and accused Kumar of amplifying the Opposition’s narrative. He alleged that the analyst had a track record of misjudging the BJP’s electoral prospects and called the incident an example of “confirmation bias.”

Malviya also took aim at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, demanding that he apologise for using the flawed data to attack the Election Commission. He claimed that Gandhi’s reliance on erroneous numbers exposed the weakness of the Opposition’s allegations. Linking the controversy to Gandhi’s current campaign in Bihar—dubbed the “घुसपैठिया बचाओ यात्रा”—Malviya argued that the Congress was attempting to divert attention from real governance challenges.

Referring to Congress’s claims of discrepancies in Maharashtra’s voter data, BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia said that lies had been spread for 40 hours to weaken democracy and raise baseless questions about the Election Commission. He questioned who would take responsibility for this, whether Rahul Gandhi would apologise to the nation, and what impact such actions had on the public’s faith, since those who saw the information might have believed it to be true.