New Delhi, June 7 In response to Rahul Gandhi’s sharp critique of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections -- where he alleged large-scale rigging and institutional compromise -- BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has hit back by invoking the Allahabad High Court’s historic judgment for electoral malpractices in the 1971 elections.
Reacting to Gandhi’s opinion piece titled “Match Fixing Maharashtra”, Dubey posted on X, challenging the Congress leader’s moral standing on electoral integrity.
“Rahul Baba, is the election fixed or is it stolen? Read about your grandmother Indira Gandhi ji’s exploits, which are documented in the judgment of the Allahabad High Court,” Dubey wrote.
To support his argument, Dubey attached excerpts from the Allahabad High Court verdict.
In his post, Dubey alleged: "In the 1971 election, government resources were blatantly misused -- army helicopters were deployed, liquor and clothes were distributed openly, votes were sought in the name of religion, and voters were ferried in vehicles provided by Congress. Government officials were co-opted into electioneering. It was a textbook case of institutional abuse.”
“You turn elections into a farce, your family has weakened the country’s institutions, and the freedom to rig elections will no longer be tolerated,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi’s article, published in a national daily, alleged that the 2024 Maharashtra elections were manipulated using what he described as a “step-by-step playbook".
He accused the BJP of manipulating the selection panel for appointing the Election Commission; adding fake names to the voter rolls; inflating voter turnout figures; strategically enabling bogus voting in key constituencies; and suppressing or erasing evidence of electoral fraud.
“It’s not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra,” Gandhi wrote. “But rigging is like match-fixing -- the side that cheats might win the game, but it damages institutions and erodes public trust in democracy,” Rahul Gandhi said.
The BJP and its allies have dismissed Gandhi's allegations as baseless and politically motivated. Several party leaders have called it an attempt to deflect attention from the opposition’s recent electoral setbacks.
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