Frustrated for missing the national media space post Operation Sindoor, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi decided to seek headlines by his usual sensationalism and worse baseless charge. He dismissed Maharashtra elections as "rigged". It happened more than six months back.
But who can prevent the dynastic favourite child to make such statements.
(In December 2024, Also, EC had stated that it was impossible to alter the actual voter turnout data since Form 17C — detailing the voter turnout —is made available to authorised agents of candidates at each polling station at the close of polls. Voter turnout stood at 58.22% at 5 pm on polling day, November 20.
However, at 11.30 pm, it rose to 65.02% and eventually reached 66.05% by the next day, November 21, reflecting an increase of approximately 76 lakh additional votes.)
The Election Commission on Saturday dismissed Rahul Gandhi's claims of last year's Maharashtra Assembly election results being rigged as vague and "completely absurd".
It issued a point-by-point rebuttal to the Congress MP's (Leader of the Opposition) voter fraud allegations.
"After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised is completely absurd," the poll body said in its strongly-worded reply.
Dismissing Rahul Gandhi's "match-fixing" claims, the Election Commission said the entire voting process was conducted transparently, with polling agents from all political parties present. The poll panel noted that Congress's authorised agents never raised any objections or complaints about abnormal voting.
The Congress MP further alleged that the law governing the appointment of Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner was amended to heavily favour the Centre by removing the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the panel responsible for their selection.
Calling Rahul Gandhi's allegations "unsubstantiated", the Election Commission reiterated it had already replied to the similar charges raised by the Congress last year, shortly after losing the Maharashtra Assembly polls.
"The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to INC on December 24, 2024 itself which is available on EC’s website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again," it said.
The Congress-led INDIA bloc suffered a humiliating loss in the Assembly elections last year, months after it pulled up a surprise, surpassing the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections.
Following its dismal performance in the Assembly polls - with the INDIA bloc managing to win only 46 of the 288 seats - Rahul Gandhi claimed that 70 lakh voters were mysteriously added to Maharashtra's electoral rolls between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegations, the Election Commission shared data, showing 40.81 lakh voters were instead added in the five months between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
In December 2024, the EC also said that there were no unusual or bulk deletions across the state. The average deletion rate was around 2,779 electors per AC, and these deletions were primarily due to voter deaths, relocation, or duplicate entries. The process followed was transparent and included participation from INC representatives.
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