Election Commission rejects Rahul Gandhi's claims of rigging in 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, calls them 'absolutely absurd'

Election Commission of India (ECI) sources on Saturday (June 7, 2025) rejected claims of rigging in the Maharashtra Assembly polls held last year and said defaming it after receiving an unfavourable verdict from the voters is absolutely absurd. The ECI sources were responding to a newspaper article by former Congress chief and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, alleging "match-fixing" in the Maharashtra state polls.

The sources said any misinformation being spread by anyone brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by political parties during elections and demotivates lakhs of poll staff who work tirelessly for the gigantic exercise. They pointed out that unsubstantiated allegations raised against the electoral rolls of Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law.

In his op-ed article, Gandhi claimed there were several illegal practices in last year's Maharashtra Assembly elections, including addition of fake voters in the electoral roll, inflated voter turnout, targeted bogus voting, rigging the panel for appointing the Election Commission, and hiding of evidence.

In a post on X, the Congress leader warned that similar things could take place in Bihar Assembly elections, due to be held later this year.

(With inputs from news agency PTI).