CSDS To Get Show Cause Notice From ICSSR Over "Manipulation" Of Maharashtra Election Data

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) on Tuesday (20 August) said it would issue a show cause notice to the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) after a senior academic at the institute, Sanjay Kumar, admitted to sharing incorrect data about voter numbers in two constituencies of Maharashtra.

Kumar, professor and co-director of Lokniti at CSDS, had posted on X that Ramtek and Devlali constituencies witnessed a 36–38 per cent drop in voter numbers between last year’s Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The claim was later found to be inaccurate.

He later retracted the claim on X, saying, “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.”

The ICSSR, which funds CSDS and functions under the Ministry of Education, accused the institute of “data manipulation” and attempting to undermine the Election Commission of India (ECI).

“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,” it said in a statement on X.

The controversy drew strong political reactions. The BJP alleged that Kumar’s deleted post was used by the Congress to “discredit the electoral process.”

BJP Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “They call themselves a survey agency but are puppets in the hands of leaders like Rahul Gandhi. This is a factory, a machine of dishing out lies.” He claimed 34,000 people viewed the post before its removal.

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