Overview

• On June 21, Rahul Gandhi charged the Election Commission of India with “deleting evidence” by reducing the retention period for CCTV, webcasting and polling photos to 45 days.
• In a May 30 letter, the poll body directed state chief electoral officers to erase all election videos and images after 45 days unless an election petition is filed.
• The Election Commission says the rule change aligns with the 45-day legal window for challenges and shields voters from potential pressure or intimidation through misused footage.
• Gandhi has also demanded consolidated, machine-readable voter rolls for recent Lok Sabha and assembly elections, pointing to unexplained jumps in Maharashtra’s registered voters.
• A Supreme Court hearing is set for July on petitions challenging December’s amendment that limits public access to electronic election records.