'Attempt to undermine EC's sanctity': ICSSR to issue show cause notice to CSDS over Maharashtra data glitch

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) on Wednesday accused Lokniti-CSDS of attempting to "create a narrative with the intention of undermining the sanctity of the Election Commission of India," and announced it will issue a show cause notice to the institute for violating grant rules.

In a strongly worded statement released on X, the ICSSR said, "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."

The council added, "Further, the institute has published media stories based on biased interpretation of the SIR exercise by the Election Commission of India."

Referring to the Election Commission as a "high constitutional body," ICSSR said it "takes serious cognizance of the data manipulation by CSDS." The statement noted, "This is a gross violation of the Grant-in-Aid rules of ICSSR, and ICSSR shall issue a Show Cause Notice to the Institute."

The controversy began after Sanjay Kumar, co-director of Lokniti-CSDS and a prominent psephologist, posted on X that Nashik West and Hingna constituencies in Maharashtra saw voter surges of over 43% between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. He later deleted the post and issued an apology.

"I sincerely apologise for the tweets posted regarding Maharashtra elections. Error occurred while comparing data of 2024 Lok Sabha and 2024 Assembly. The data in row was misread by our Data team," Kumar said in a statement. "I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation."

Kumar’s now-deleted post was seized upon by Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, as evidence of alleged "vote chori" in Maharashtra. The BJP responded sharply, with party IT Cell head Amit Malviya accusing Kumar of spreading data without verification to fuel the Opposition’s claims. "In his exuberance to feed the Congress's fake narrative on Maharashtra, CSDS put out data without verification. That is not analysis — it is confirmation bias," Malviya said.

The controversy has further escalated as the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls continues in Bihar, ahead of state polls later this year. The Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar also cited Kumar’s apology and noted that his data was widely quoted by Opposition leaders.

CSDS, established in 1963, operates under the academic umbrella of ICSSR, which is the apex research body under the Ministry of Education. The council’s warning signals possible action and heightened scrutiny on research institutions receiving government funding.