The Election Commission has called Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of electoral rigging as "absolutely absurd" and said that defaming the commission after receiving an unfavourable verdict from the voters was unwarranted.
The reaction came after Rahul Gandhi, in an article, described the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections as "match-fixing" and claimed it was a "blueprint for rigging democracy". He suggested that what happened in Maharashtra could be repeated in Bihar or any state where the BJP is on a losing ground.
The EC sources stated, "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 called the allegations against Maharashtra's electoral rolls "an affront to the rule of law".
The BJP also criticised Gandhi's remarks.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said, "This means that Rahul Gandhi has already accepted his defeat in Bihar. I always say that the Congress can never win if Rahul Gandhi continues to give himself fake consolation. Rahul Gandhi must wake up and understand the reality. I condemn Rahul Gandhi for humiliating the voters of Maharashtra."
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, "Rahul Gandhi and MVA became overconfident after they won 31 seats, while BJP-led alliance bagged 17 seats in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and forgot the election basics of door-to-door campaign and public interaction as a result of that overconfidence."
Bawankule added, "Rahul Gandhi should understand that MVA lost 33 lakh votes as compared to its Lok Sabha elections. He should study that as per the 2009 voters' list, there were 7.29 crore voters enrolled in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections. Similarly, the number of voters increased to 7.59 crore in Maharashtra assembly polls held the same year. At that time, their government was in power at the Centre and in the state. So how did these 30 lakh voters increase?"
He said the EC had gone door-to-door for voter registration and the same was done during the current elections. "Rahul Gandhi has become restless and he cannot talk on the development agenda of PM Modi. I think his party will not grow until he comes out of the dark shadow of defeat," he said.
Union minister Chirag Paswan said, "Now they are looking for excuses because they are going to lose the next election. They know that they are going to lose the Bihar assembly elections. Till now, they were blaming EVMs. Now they have found a new excuse. After independence, you remained in power for 55 years, and today, if the public is rejecting you, then instead of finding excuses, it is time for introspection."
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said, "Rahul Baba, is the election fixed or how is it stolen? Read about your grandmother Indira Gandhi ji's exploits, which is the judgment of the Allahabad High Court. In the 1971 election, the army and its helicopters were used. In Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ji's election, liquor and clothes were openly distributed. Votes were sought in the name of Hinduism. Voters were brought in vehicles, and vehicles were also distributed among people. Money was distributed recklessly 6 Government employees were engaged in election campaigning. You create a spectacle of the election, your family ruins the country, the freedom to loot elections will no longer be allowed."