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ICSSR says CSDS undermined the Election Commission’s credibility with false data on Maharashtra voter rolls, cites violation of funding norms
The Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections were held in five phases between April 19 and May 20, 2024. (Representational image/PTI)
The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) on Tuesday said it will issue a show-cause notice to the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) over an erroneous claim made by Lokniti co-director Sanjay Kumar in a social media post, which alleged dramatic changes in voter numbers across four Maharashtra Assembly constituencies between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Kumar later retracted the post and issued a public apology, attributing the error to a data misreading.
The ICSSR, which functions under the Ministry of Education and funds research in the social sciences, said in a statement that it had taken “serious cognisance” of the incident. It described the episode as “data manipulation” and said the institute had also published “media stories based on biased interpretation” of the Election Commission of India’s Sample Verification (SIR) exercise.
“ICSSR takes serious cognizance of the data manipulation by CSDS and its attempt to create a narrative with the intention of undermining the sanctity of the Election Commission of India. This is a gross violation of the Grant-in-Aid rules of ICSSR, and ICSSR shall issue a Show Cause Notice to the Institute,” the council said in a post on X.
It added that it held the Indian Constitution “in highest esteem” and described the Election Commission as a “high constitutional body which has been holding free and fair elections in the largest democracy of world for decades together.”
It has come to the notice of ICSSR that an individual holding responsible position at CSDS, an ICSSR-funded research institute, has made media statements that had to be retracted subsequently citing glitches in data analysis regarding elections in Maharashtra.Futher, the…
— Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) (@icssr) August 19, 2025
The Now-Deleted Post
The controversy began after Kumar, a widely recognised psephologist, posted figures on X suggesting extreme discrepancies in voter numbers in Nashik West, Hingna, Ramtek, and Devlali between the two 2024 elections.
According to his now-deleted posts:
- Nashik West Assembly had 3.28 lakh voters during the Lok Sabha polls, which allegedly increased by 1.55 lakh (47.38%) to 4.83 lakh in the Vidhan Sabha elections.
- Hingna Assembly’s numbers rose from 3.15 lakh to 4.50 lakh — an increase of 1.36 lakh voters (43.08%).
- In contrast, Ramtek saw a decline from 4.66 lakh to 2.87 lakh — a drop of 1.80 lakh voters (38.63%).
- Devlali’s count fell from 4.56 lakh to 2.88 lakh — a 1.68 lakh drop (36.84%).
Kumar retracted the data the next day and posted an apology, writing: “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
Despite the deletion, the incident has taken on political dimensions, especially because several opposition leaders had shared the figures online in support of their larger campaign against alleged voter roll discrepancies in Maharashtra.
What The Official Data Says
A News18 analysis of Election Commission of India data, released during the announcement of election schedules, showed that Maharashtra had 9.23 crore voters as of March 30, 2024. This rose to 9.63 crore by October 15, 2024, amounting to an increase of about 40 lakh voters. These figures included both new additions and deletions.
The Lok Sabha elections in the state were held in five phases between April 19 and May 20, 2024. The Assembly polls were held later in November. According to ECI rules, the electoral roll for each election freezes on the date of the nomination notification, typically about a month before voting day, making such sharp changes in numbers between the two polls statistically implausible.
Impact On The ‘Vote Chori’ Campaign
The timing of the CSDS data controversy has intensified scrutiny of the Opposition’s ‘vote chori’ (vote theft) narrative, led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhi has alleged that Maharashtra saw the addition of 39 lakh new voters between the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, more than the adult population growth in the state during that time and higher than the total voter increase between 2019 and 2024.
While the now-retracted CSDS figures were not the basis of Gandhi’s campaign, they were cited by senior Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera in two posts on X, both of which have since been taken down.
Gandhi officially launched the ‘vote chori’ campaign earlier this month, focusing on the need for electoral transparency and demanding machine-readable voter rolls.
BJP, EC, and CEO Reactions
Though the Maharashtra CEO has not issued an official statement on Kumar’s apology, the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) posted a screenshot of the deleted post in a response to the apology.
“CSDS Sanjay Kumar apologised for the tweet posted regarding Maharashtra Assembly Elections… His data was quoted by many INC & Opposition leaders for questioning EC,” the Bihar CEO wrote on X.
CSDS Sanjay Kumar apologized for the tweet posted regarding Maharashtra Assembly Elections.He said that error occurred while comparing data of 2024 LS and 2024 AS.His TWEET is deleted now but screenshot is attached.His data was quoted by many INC & Opposition leaders for… https://t.co/uUADLz9lrQ pic.twitter.com/FBBDMd1l0w
— Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar (@CEOBihar) August 19, 2025
BJP leaders, including IT Cell head Amit Malviya, have seized on the apology to counter the Opposition’s allegations.
Malviya accused Kumar and CSDS of feeding “Congress’s fake narrative on Maharashtra” without verifying data, saying this was not analysis but “confirmation bias.”
The apology is in, and Sanjay Kumar is out. Incidentally, when was the last time this protégé of Yogendra Yadav ever got anything right? In all his projections in the run-up to every single election, the BJP is supposedly losing—and when the reverse happens, he turns up on TV… https://t.co/QXJvUi6d3B— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 19, 2025
He also questioned the integrity of CSDS, calling for a deeper look at its funding sources, survey design, and past outputs.
“The very institution whose data Gandhi leaned on to defame the voters of Maharashtra has now admitted that its figures were wrong… Shameful,” Malviya posted, adding that Gandhi should abandon his Bihar yatra and apologise to the people of India.
What’s Next?
The ICSSR’s move marks an escalation in the controversy surrounding Sanjay Kumar’s now-deleted social media post and its political fallout. While the council has cited a “gross violation” of Grant-in-Aid rules, it has not yet detailed what specific consequences the CSDS may face.
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The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d… Read More
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