Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has sparked fresh controversy by alleging that the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections were rigged, calling them a “blueprint for stealing democracy.”
In a social media post on Saturday, Gandhi claimed the same tactics will be used in the upcoming Bihar elections.
Sharing a newspaper article penned by himself, Gandhi outlined what he described as a five-step rigging strategy:
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Manipulate the panel that appoints the Election Commission
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Insert fake voters into the rolls
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Inflate voter turnout figures
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Target bogus voting in critical constituencies
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Conceal the evidence
“It’s not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra. Rigging is like match-fixing—it may win the game, but it destroys public faith in democracy,” Gandhi wrote.
He urged citizens to “demand answers and evaluate the evidence themselves,” warning that “match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy.”
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won 235 seats in the 2024 Maharashtra polls, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a significant defeat.
In response, BJP spokesperson Tuhin Sinha slammed the Congress leader, accusing him of “demonising national institutions” and recycling baseless allegations already addressed by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The ECI had earlier clarified discrepancies raised over voter turnout data and the removal of certain names from electoral rolls.
As political temperatures rise ahead of elections in Bihar, Gandhi’s accusations have once again sharpened the divide between the opposition and the ruling party, with questions around electoral transparency and institutional trust back in the spotlight.
