‘It is clear, the match is fixed': Rahul Gandhi hits out at EC for reducing storage time of poll CCTV footage
After the Election Commission (EC) revised its guidelines on preserving video footage and photographs of elections, reducing the retention period to 45 days, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the poll panel, saying 'the one from whom the answer was needed is destroying the evidence'.
EC sources, however, pointed out that the change aligned the retention period with the timeframe for candidates and electors to file a petition challenging an election – 45 days after the declaration of results. Earlier, the timeframes ranged from three months to one year, depending on the stage of the poll process, as The Indian Express had reported on Friday.
Writing on X, Gandhi said: 'It is clear – the match is fixed. And a fixed election is poison for democracy.'
The poll panel had revised its earlier guidelines, issued in September 2024, on preserving video footage and photographs of elections — reducing the retention period to 45 days after the declaration of results, after which the data can be destroyed if no election petition (EP) is filed. The EC communicated its decision to the Chief Electoral Officers of all states and Union territories on May 30, citing 'recent misuse' of such material. The Commission underlined that videography and photography of the election process are not mandated by law but are used as an 'internal management tool'.
In a post on X, Gandhi, who has been levelling allegations of irregularities in the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year, said: 'Voter list? Will not provide machine-readable format. CCTV footage? It was hidden by changing the law. Photo-video of the election? Now, not in 1 year, we will destroy it in 45 days only.'
EC sources said on Saturday that there had been demands to release videos of the poll process and webcasting footage of polling stations. They added that while the demands appeared to be logical, they were in violation of the privacy and security of voters, which is guaranteed by the Representation of the People Act and upheld by court judgments. Releasing the footage would allow for identification of electors by any group or individual, leaving the voters vulnerable to pressure and intimidation, they said.
'Since no election can be challenged beyond 45 days of the declaration of the result, retaining of this footage beyond this period, makes it susceptible to misuse of the content by non-contestants for spreading misinformation and malicious narratives. In case of an EP being filed within 45 days, the CCTV footage is not destroyed and also made available to the competent court when asked for,' as per an EC source.
This is the second significant change made by the EC in recent months pertaining to CCTV footage of the election process. In December last year, the government amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Elections Rules to limit public access to such footage.
Gandhi's attack on the Election Commission, in a piece in The Indian Express on June 14, reiterated allegations he has made in the past and questioned the Maharashtra Assembly election data which the poll panel has released.
In his piece titled 'Match-fixing Maharashtra', Gandhi wrote that 'voter rolls and CCTV footage are tools to be used to strengthen democracy, not ornaments to be locked up'. 'The people of India have a right to be assured that no records have been or will be trashed,' Gandhi wrote.
A scrutiny by The Indian Express of his allegations and data around each shows that Gandhi's criticism selectively cites records, ignores crucial context and, in one case, even draws a connection where none exists.
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