Rahul Gandhi alleges 'match-fixing' in Maharashtra polls; calls it 'poison' for democracy

New Delhi, June 7 Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has launched a stinging attack on the BJP, alleging that the party "match-fixed" the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections to secure a victory through large-scale electoral rigging.

Taking to X, LoP Gandhi posted, "How to steal an election? Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy."

In a sharply-worded opinion piece published in a national daily, Gandhi laid out what he termed a "step-by-step playbook" used by the BJP to undermine the democratic process in Maharashtra.

"Step 1: Rig the panel for appointing the Election Commission, Step 2: Add fake voters to the roll, Step 3: Inflate voter turnout, Step 4: Target the bogus voting exactly where BJP needs to win, Step 5: Hide the evidence," he wrote alongside a cutout of his article.

"It's not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra. But rigging is like match-fixing -- the side that cheats might win the game, but damages institutions and destroy public faith in the result," he stated.

The Congress leader reiterated concerns he had raised earlier in his February 3 Parliament speech and a Press conference, where he expressed unease over the integrity of the electoral process.

In his article, he claimed that while suspicions of electoral manipulation have existed previously, the scale of the alleged rigging in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections is both exceptional and glaring.

"Despite all efforts to conceal it, tell-tale evidence has emerged from official statistics, without reliance on any non-official source," he wrote.

The Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP, secured a landslide victory in the November polls, while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- consisting of the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) -- was reduced to just 50 seats.

LoP Gandhi began his article by pointing to the 2023 changes in the Election Commissioners Appointment Act, which replaced the Chief Justice of India on the selection committee with a Union Minister.

This, he argued, tilted the balance of power in the BJP's favour.

"The decision to place a Cabinet minister instead of the Chief Justice of India on the selection committee does not pass the smell test," he wrote, adding, "Ask yourself, why would someone go out of their way to remove a neutral arbiter in an important institution? To ask the question is to know the answer."

He also alleged a suspicious rise in the number of registered voters. According to him, Maharashtra's electorate increased from 8.98 crore in 2019 to 9.29 crore ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls -- a five-year rise of 31 lakh.

Yet, he claimed that in the short span between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the number further jumped by another 41 lakh, reaching 9.70 crore.

Rahul Gandhi raised eyebrows over the Election Commission's handling of voter turnout numbers, stating, "The polling turnout at 5 p.m. was 58.22 per cent. Even after voting closed, however, turnout kept increasing more and more. The final turnout was reported only the next morning to be 66.05 per cent."

"This unprecedented 7.83 percentage point increase is equivalent to 76 lakh voters -- much higher than previous Vidhan Sabha elections in Maharashtra," he said.

He questioned how such a large number of additional votes could be cast after 5 p.m., particularly when no extended voting was observed.

LoP Gandhi cited data suggesting that most added voters were concentrated in around 12,000 booths across 85 constituencies where the BJP had performed poorly in the previous Lok Sabha polls.

"That's an average of over 600 voters at each booth after 5 p.m. Optimistically assuming that each voter needs a minute to vote, voting would need to continue for 10 hours. Since this never happened, it begs the question -- how were the extra votes cast?" he asked, noting that the NDA won a majority of those 85 seats.

While the Election Commission described the turnout increase as a "welcome trend in participation of youth," Gandhi dismissed it as "an amusing joke, if it were not tragic."

He also slammed the EC's refusal to release photographic voter rolls and criticised its aggressive dismissal of Opposition concerns.

Further, he pointed to a change in the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules -- Section 93(2)(a) -- which restricts access to CCTV footage and electronic records.

"Voter rolls and CCTV footage are tools to be used to strengthen democracy, not ornaments to be locked up," Gandhi argued, adding, "The people of India have a right to be assured that no records have been or will be trashed."

Concluding his post, LoP Gandhi warned of similar tactics being replicated in other states. "All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers. Because the match-fixing of Maharashtra will come to Bihar next, and then anywhere the BJP is losing," he wrote.

"Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy," he added.

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