The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) on Tuesday announced it will issue a show-cause notice to the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) after Lokniti co-director and noted psephologist Sanjay Kumar wrongly claimed large voter number discrepancies across four Maharashtra constituencies. Kumar’s now-deleted X post alleged dramatic shifts between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Nashik West, Hingna, Ramtek, and Devlali, before he retracted and apologised, blaming a “data misreading.” ICSSR, which termed the episode “data manipulation” and a violation of its Grant-in-Aid rules, said CSDS attempted to undermine the Election Commission’s credibility. The council stressed that it holds the Constitution in the “highest esteem” and praised the ECI’s role in ensuring free and fair polls. The controversy gained political traction as opposition leaders amplified Kumar’s figures, citing them as proof of alleged electoral roll discrepancies in Maharashtra. ‘Vote Fraud’ Row: Opposition Parties Likely to Bring Impeachment Motion Notice Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar Over ‘Vote Chori’ Allegations, Say Sources.
ICSSR Slams CSDS
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
Sanjay Kumar Apologises for Error
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
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