Rahul Gandhi again Raises Issue of “Match Fixing” in Maharashtra, BJP, ECI Hit Back

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, June 7: The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday once again alleged large-scale electoral manipulation in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections calling it a “match fixing” and “blueprint for rigging democracy,” evoking immediate criticism from the BJP and rebuttal by the Election Commission of India.

The Mahayuti alliance comprising the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had secured 235 of the 288 assembly seats. The BJP alone accounted for 132 of these, its best performance in the state’s history.

In contrast, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) formed by the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) was reduced to a mere 50 seats. For Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, who had lost control of their respective parties and symbols in the preceding months, the result was a massive blow.

Mr Gandhi in a media article laid out what he claimed a systematic method used to influence the election outcome in favour of the BJP. He claimed that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) employed a five-step model to subvert the democratic process in the state.

“Step 1: Rig the panel for appointing the Election Commission, Step 2: Add fake voters to the roll, Step 3: Inflate voter turnout, Step 4: Target the bogus voting exactly where BJP needs to win, Step 5: Hide the evidence,” Mr Gandhi wrote.

“I am not talking of small-scale cheating, but of industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions,” Mr Gandhi wrote in his article. “It’s not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra,” Gandhi wrote in his post. “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,” Gandhi added. He also warned that what happened in Maharashtra could be repeated elsewhere. “The match-fixing of Maharashtra will come to Bihar next, and then anywhere the BJP is losing,” he said, calling match-fixed elections are a “poison” for any democracy.

Mr Gandhi’s first contention centres on the changes brought by the BJP-led Centre in 2023 through the Election Commissioners Appointment Act. The Act replaced the Chief Justice of India with a Union Minister on the committee responsible for selecting Election Commissioners. Mr Gandhi argues that this shifted the balance decisively in favour of the executive.

“The decision to place a cabinet minister instead of the Chief Justice on the selection committee does not pass the smell test. Ask yourself, why would someone go out of their way to remove a neutral arbiter in an important institution? To ask the question is to know the answer,” Mr Gandhi wrote. The Election Commission has maintained that its functioning remains autonomous and that it adheres strictly to constitutional laws.

The BJP has termed Mr Gandhi’s claims as “disgraceful.” “Rahul Gandhi is back to his disgraceful antics of demonising the country’s institutions. These issues have been repeatedly addressed by the EC in absolute detail,” said the BJP’s Tuhin Sinha.

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya blamed Gandhi for repeatedly trying to sow seeds of doubt and division among voters. “It is not that Rahul Gandhi doesn’t understand how the electoral process works. He does — very well. But his goal is not clarity, it is chaos. His repeated attempts to sow seeds of doubt and dissension in the minds of voters about our institutional processes are deliberate,” Malviya wrote on X.

“When Congress wins — be it in Telangana or Karnataka — the same system is hailed as fair and just. But when they lose — from Haryana to Maharashtra — the whining and conspiracy theories begin, without fail,” he stated.

BJP leader and Union Health Minister JP Nadda countered Mr Gandhi’s remarks with his own 5-step blueprint. “Rahul Gandhi’s latest article is a blueprint for manufacturing fake narratives, owing to his sadness and desperation of losing election after election.  Here’s how he does it, step by step:

Step 1: Congress Party gets defeated election after election due to his antics. Step 2: Instead of introspecting, he cooks up bizarre conspiracies and cries rigging. Step 3: Ignores all facts and data. Step 4: Defames institutions with zero proof. Step 5: Hopes for headlines over facts. Despite being exposed time and again, he shamelessly keeps peddling lies. And, he is doing this because a defeat in Bihar is certain. Democracy doesn’t need drama. It needs truth,” he posted on X.

According to Mr Gandhi, the number of registered voters in Maharashtra rose from 8.98 crore in the 2019 assembly elections to 9.29 crore in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls which is an increase of 31 lakh over five years. But within the next five months, ahead of the November assembly election, this figure reportedly jumped by another 41 lakh, reaching 9.70 crore, he claimed.

The BJP played down Mr Gandhi’s additional voters’ charge.  “This is normal procedure. A similar process was followed even before the Karnataka assembly elections, which the Congress won. Besides, Rahul Gandhi has himself quoted different figures at different times,” said Mr Sinha.

The Election Commission attributed the increase to greater youth participation and a targeted campaign to enrol new voters. It on Saturday once again dismissed the allegations raised by Mr Gandhi that there was a large-scale electoral manipulation in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections with a point wise rebuttal, stating that “facts are completely being ignored.”

“Unsubstantiated allegations raised against the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law. The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to the INC on 24th December 2024 itself, which is available on ECI’s website. It appears that all these facts are being completely ignored while raising such issues again and again,” the ECI said.

Adding to its rebuttal about how “facts were being completely ignored” repeatedly, the ECI further said such actions not only show “a complete disregard for the law,” but also undermine the integrity of thousands of party-appointed representatives and demoralise the lakhs of election officials who, it said, “work untiringly and transparently during elections.” “After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised, is completely absurd,” stated the poll body.