Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed on Saturday that the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections were a "blueprint for rigging democracy" and alleged this "match-fixing" would next happen in Bihar, even as the Election Commission rejected the charge saying defaming the poll panel after an unfavourable verdict is absolutely absurd.
The BJP also hit out at Gandhi over the allegations with party chief J P Nadda accusing the Congress leader of cooking up "bizarre conspiracies" and "fake narratives" out of desperation after losing a series of elections.As the two rival parties and EC sparred over the issue, Gandhi again hit out at the poll panel after sources in the Commission debunked his charges, saying evasion would not protect its credibility but telling the truth would.
Gandhi said fixed elections are a "poison" for any democracy, and the side that cheats may win the game, but it damages institutions and destroys public faith.Lashing out at Gandhi, Nadda said his article is a "blueprint for manufacturing fake narratives", owing to his sadness and desperation of losing election after election.
The Election Commission sources rejected rigging claims in last year's Maharashtra Assembly polls and said the Congress has never flagged the alleged discrepancies.Any misinformation being spread by anyone brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by political parties during polls and demotivates poll staff working tirelessly for the gigantic exercise, the EC sources said.
They said that "unsubstantiated" allegations raised against the electoral rolls of Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law.
Sticking to his stand, Gandhi retorted, "Dear EC, You are a Constitutional body. Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions." "If you have nothing to hide, answer the questions in my article and prove it by: Publishing consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states including Maharashtra and by releasing all post-5 pm CCTV footage from Maharashtra polling booths," he said.
In his rejoinder, Nadda shared an article on the portal 'OpIndia' which countered Gandhi's charges.The BJP also accused Gandhi of attacking democratic institutions to undermine people's trust in the electoral process, claiming he was doing so to pre-empt his party's defeat in the upcoming elections.BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said it is a well-planned conspiracy, as Gandhi knows that his party is set to suffer defeat in Bihar assembly polls.Gandhi is trying to undermine the trust of people in the electoral process because he is unable to gain public support in favour of his party, Bhandari charged, calling the Congress leader "anti-democracy".
Slamming Gandhi over his accusations, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya accused the Congress leader of deliberately making repeated attempts to sow seeds of doubt and dissension in the minds of the voters about the poll process.
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