‘Misleading’: ECI slams Congress video tagged ‘Vote Chor – Gaddi Chhod’

New Delhi: The ECI on Saturday issued a fact-check against a video posted by the Congress party’s official social media handle, dismissing the message tagged ‘Vote Chor – Gaddi Chhod’ as “misleading” and “not in line with existing laws”.

Reiterating its stand against making public polling-station CCTV footage, the Election Commission of India, in a post on X, said that doing this “would risk the secrecy of the ballot, a cornerstone of free and fair elections, as well as privacy of voters, by enabling identification of who has voted or not voted, leaving voters vulnerable to pressure, discrimination, or intimidation”.

Slamming the Congress video dated August 25 amid repeated demands for sharing footage of polling stations in Maharashtra, the ECI explained that the Bombay High Court dismissed the writ petition No. 1402 of 2025, challenging the Maharashtra Assembly elections and rejected the plea to provide CCTV footage of polling stations to the public. The Supreme Court also declined to interfere with this order.

The ECI said that as per Section 81 of the RP Act, 1951, an election petition can be filed within 45 days from the declaration of results. In line with this, the Election Commission of India retains CCTV footage for 45 days.

Sharing its resolve to protect the privacy of voters, the Commission said, “The ECI stands firmly by the privacy of voters, which is essential to uphold the integrity of elections.”

In support of its stand, the ECI cited a Supreme Court judgment dealing with privacy issues.

“In Puttaswamy Judgment (2017), the Supreme Court declared the Right to Privacy to be a fundamental right primarily protected by Article 21 and also traceable to Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution. It covers bodily privacy, informational privacy, and decisional privacy (choice),” said the ECI in a post on X.

The ECI asserted that it works as per the Constitution of India, the Election Laws and orders of the Supreme Court.

The slogan ‘Vote Chor – Gaddi Chhod’ has been used extensively by the Congress and its allies during the just-concluded ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar to accuse the Election Commission of alleged manipulation of election rolls and results – a charge denied by the poll body.

IANS