Mumbai, Jan.26 (Reporter) Congress has questioned the Election Commission of India on how the Maharashtra voter count has surpassed the figure of the adult population in the state. Citing data, the All India Professional Congress (AIPF) President Praveen Chakravarty while addressing a press conference on Sarturday, said according to the ECI, the number of state voters increased by 32 lakhs in five years - between the Lok Sabha 2019 and 2024 elections. “If this is so, then in what way did the voters' figure in the state shoot up by 48 lakhs in just six months, between the LS and Assembly polls in 2024,” Chakravarty demanded, flanked by former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Kumar Ketkar and others. The AIPF chief said as per ECI, the state voters count is 9.70 crore, but the adult population above the age of 18 as announced by the Union Health Ministry is 9.54 crore, lower by 16 lakhs. As against this, the number of voters shot up by 48 lakhs in just six months last year. Chavan said in view of these and other irregularities, around 100 loser candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-Nationalist Congress Party (SP) have filed election petitions in the court. Chavan and Chakravarty referred to alleged irregularities in the voter registration process, as in Loni village (Shirdi constituency) where 5,000 people were registered at a single address, and despite complaint to ECI, no action was taken. Similarly, around 20,000-26,000 new voters were enlisted in some 132 assembly constituencies after the Lok Sabha elections, which greatly benefitted the MahaYuti alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party, they said. They said in the LS polls, the MahaYuti was leading in 62 out of these 132 assembly segments, but in the assembly polls, they won 112 seats, raising suspicions about the sudden and massive spike in voter lists resulting in the MVA’s rout...////...