FIRs Against Psephologist Sanjay Kumar For Spreading ‘Fake Info’ Over Maharashtra Polls

Last Updated:August 20, 2025, 20:52 IST

Professor Sanjay Kumar of Lokniti-CSDS faces FIRs in Nagpur and Nashik for allegedly spreading false info about Maharashtra elections.

Sanjay Kumar. (File)

Prominent psephologist and co-director of Lokniti-CSDS, Professor Sanjay Kumar, has landed in legal trouble as two FIRs have been lodged against him for allegedly spreading “false information" and potential election-related violations on Wednesday.

The FIRs have been registered in Nagpur’s Ramtek and Nashik’s Deolali. Sources indicated that the case can be filed at all the places where Kumar raised questions regarding voting in Maharashtra elections.

The complaints have been filed under multiple sections of the BNS, including Sections 175, 353(1)(b), 212, and 340(1)(2), for his controversial social media posts related to the Maharashtra assembly elections, news agency ANI reported.

The development came after Kumar made the startling claim over the alleged surge in voter numbers in the Maharashtra elections. Last week, in a post on X, the psephologist had claimed that the number of voters in the Nashik West and Hingna Assembly segments rose by 47 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively, between the Lok Sabha election last and the Maharashtra polls earlier this year. He also claimed that the number of voters sharply fell in Ramtek and Devlali seats by 38 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

Kumar shared the data that was seen as lending credence to the Congress’ allegations of ‘vote chori’ (vote theft) in Maharashtra, which has been amplified by its leader Rahul Gandhi.

However, on Tuesday, Kumar apologised and deleted the posts.

“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 Bharatiya Janata Party was in no mood to let go, with BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya lashing out at Kumar’s apology, calling him a “protégé of Yogendra Yadav". Malviya posted angrily, “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 justifying how the BJP won. Convenient."

The incident has amplified the ongoing controversy over alleged voter roll manipulation, which the Congress claims was carried out in collusion with the Election Commission and the BJP.

The Congress-led Opposition has been alleging manipulation of electoral rolls amid the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision exercise in Bihar ahead of the Assembly election in the state later this year.

Rahul Gandhi has been alleging electoral fraud in Maharashtra since the INDIA bloc’s drubbing in the state in the Assembly polls in 2024.

Shobhit Gupta

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...Read More

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...

Read More

Location :

Nagpur, India, India

First Published:

August 20, 2025, 20:52 IST

News india FIRs Against Psephologist Sanjay Kumar For Spreading ‘Fake Info’ Over Maharashtra Polls

Read More