New Delhi: Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging "rigging" in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections, which took place last year in October. Gandhi posted his opinion piece, titled ''Match-Fixing Maharashtra' published in The Indian Express.
In the article, the Lok Sabha LoP wrote about how he felt that the assembly polls in Maharashtra were rigged. He alleged that the saffron party will be doing similar 'match-fixing' in the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar.
"How to steal an election? Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy. My article shows how this happened, step by step," Gandhi said in the X post.
Rahul Gandhi's Tweet:
Rahul Gandhi's Tweet |
"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. 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 added.
The LoP also said, "Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy."
Notably, the Opposition parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), time and again alleged rigging in Maharashtra.
The BJP criticised Gandhi for his remarks. "Rahul Gandhi's statement is like that of a schoolchild who, after failing an exam, comes home saying the questions were from outside the syllabus. When they win, the EVMs and Election Commission are fine, when they won in Lok Sabha elections, they said nothing," BJP MLA Ram Kadam told IANS.
"But when they lost in Maharashtra Assembly elections, they raised objections. If he truly has evidence, who is stopping him from going to court? Misleading people and making such childish remarks is, in a way, disrespecting the Constitution," he added.
In the Maharashtra Assembly polls 2024, the BJP-led Mahayuti Alliance bagged 230 seats, with the saffron party securing 132 seats, while, the Oppsotions Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) managed to win only 46 seats.
