ICSSR to Serve Show Cause Notice to CSDS Over Alleged Manipulation of Maharashtra Election Data

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is determined to issue a show cause notice to the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) over a claim of significant fall in the number of voters in two constituencies in Maharashtra between the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls last year. The post on X was made by Sanjay Kumar, professor and co-director of Lokniti, a research programme at the CSDS who was later deleted. 

The ICSSR, functioning under the Ministry of Education, serves as the government’s top authority for research in the social and human sciences. The ICSSR supports the CSDS. 

On August 17, Kumar made a post on X that there was a 36-38% decrease in the number of voters at Ramtek and Devlali in Maharashtra between the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

On Tuesday, he apologised for the post. “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,” Kumar said in a post on X.

Following the deletion of the post, the ICSSR accused CSDS of “data manipulation”.

 
“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. Further, the institute has published media stories based on biased interpretation of the SIR exercise by the Election Commission of India. ICSSR holds the Indian Constitution in highest esteem. Election Commision of India is a high constitutional body which has been holding free and fair elections in the largest democracy of world for decades together. 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 Commision 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,” it said in a post on X.

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During a press conference, BJP alleged that the Congress used Kumar’s post on X as propaganda to malign the electoral process. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “Congress leader Pawan Khera tweets on this and then deletes. Rahul Gandhi’s baseless allegations are also based on CSDS data.”