Rahul's allegation of Maha poll rigging triggers BJP, EC retorts

The Congress's rivals lashed out on Saturday against the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for alleging systematic rigging of the November 2024 Maharashtra elections, a claim also rebuffed by Election Commission officials who called it misinformation.

- Abhishek Angad

NEW DELHI:

The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha published an op-ed on Saturday, claiming the Maharashtra polls were a "blueprint for rigging democracy" and alleging "industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions".

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde dismissed Gandhi's claims as baseless, pointing out the inconsistency in the Congress leader's position. "In the Lok Sabha elections, when Maha Vikas Aghadi won the elections in Maharashtra, they did not say anything. At that time, the EVMs and ECI were right," Shinde told reporters in Thane.

BJP chief JP Nadda accused Gandhi of manufacturing "fake narratives" out of desperation following election defeats, saying the Congress leader was "cooking up bizarre conspiracies" and "defaming institutions with zero proof".