Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for rigging the just-concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections and stated that the party plans to do the same in the forthcoming Bihar polls. His remarks came after he visited Bihar, which is getting ready for polls.
In a piece he wrote for the Indian Express, Gandhi termed the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections as a "blueprint for rigging democracy." He claimed, "How to steal an election? Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy."
Gandhi explained the purported rigging process in step-by-step detail: "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."
Blaming the BJP of being desperate to win in Maharashtra, Gandhi threatened that such rigging would undermine public faith in electoral results. "It's not difficult to understand why the BJP was desperate in Maharashtra. But rigging is similar to match-fixing – the team that cheats may win the match, but hurts institutions and ruin public trust in the outcome. All concerned Indians need to see the facts.". Decide for themselves. Ask questions," he posted on X.
Describing election manipulation as "poison," Gandhi warned, "…the match-fixing of Maharashtra will next come to Bihar and then wherever the BJP is losing. Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy."
After the Maharashtra election result, Gandhi had already blamed the ruling party of manipulating the electoral roll to benefit the BJP through the inclusion of fictitious voters. But the Election Commission has rejected these accusations.
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