Maharashtra polls 'stolen' claim: Congress alleges Trai blocked SMS outreach; regulator denies claim

NEW DELHI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Monday refuted Congress' claim that it rejected the party's application to send SMSes to its workers in Maharashtra to inform them about a documentary about how the Maharashtra 2024 elections were "stolen."In a social media post on X, Trai said that no application was rejected as the agency "doesn't approve individual SMS templates.""No application was received by Trai for sending SMS to a political party's Maharashtra cadre on how the 2024 Assembly election was ‘stolen’," it said."Trai doesn't approve individual SMS templates," it added.It said the application was rejected by the service provider and Trai was "at no stage involved in this process.""As per the photo, it is clear that it was rejected by the service provider, STPL," it said."Apparently the application was submitted to one of the service providers who rejected it. Trai was at no stage involved in this process. In fact, Trai does not deal with approval of individual message templates," it added.Earlier Congress had claimed that the telecom regulatory authority reportedly rejected the application telling the party the messages could not be sent as they were "protest content".Congress data analytics department chairman Praveen Chakravarty questioned how Trai's refusal represented "perfect synchronisation between home ministry, EC and telecom regulator to suppress." He added, "Does one need more telltale signs of guilt of Maharashtra election fraud than such coordinated moves by various arms of the govt to suppress and hide information?"He said the application for sending the SMS was filed as per the laid down process, and shared a screenshot of the message sent by authorities rejecting Congress's application.Party MP Manickam Tagore dubbed Trai's decision as ridiculous and remarked that Trai seems to have become the IT cell of BJP. "Who controls this censorship chain? Amit Shah, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Gnaneshwar (Kumar). Home ministry surveillance. Railways/telecom ministry blocks communication. EC silent spectator. One coordinated machine to hide the truth of Maharashtra 2024 fraud. Amit Shah, if Maharashtra elections weren't stolen, why are you so scared of a YouTube link," he said.Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge accused EC of withholding information necessary to nail the culprits behind "vote chori" in Aland assembly seat in Karnataka where, he said, "forged" Form 7 was used to remove voters ahead of the 2023 elections. He said a case was filed after the "sophisticated operation" was exposed, and a probe ordered by state CID. "But here's the twist: while EC had earlier shared part of the documents needed to trace the forgery, it has now stonewalled the crucial information - effectively shielding those behind the 'vote chori'... Who is it protecting?" he said.