‘Evasion won’t protect credibility’: Rahul hits back at EC after denial of poll ‘rigging’ charges

New Delhi, Jun 7 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit back at the Election Commission after sources in the poll panel rejected allegation of rigging in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, saying evasion would not protect its credibility but telling the truth would.

In an article, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha had alleged "match-fixing" in the Maharashtra polls and claimed that it would next happen in the Bihar elections and "anywhere the BJP is losing".

"Dear EC, You are a Constitutional body. Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions," Gandhi said on X.

"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.

"Evasion won't protect your credibility. Telling the truth will," Gandhi also said.

Election Commission sources earlier rejected claims made by Gandhi about alleged irregularities in Maharashtra polls.

Responding to Gandhi's charges, the EC 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.

Underscoring that match-fixed elections are a "poison" for any democracy, Gandhi wrote that the side that cheats may win the game, but it damages institutions and destroys public faith.

Gandhi earlier outlined the alleged electoral irregularities in a stepwise manner -- fake voters added, the voter turnout inflated, bogus voting facilitated and evidence subsequently hidden.

The Congress leader alleged that the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections were a "blueprint for rigging democracy" and this "match-fixing" would next happen "anywhere the BJP is losing".

"How to steal an election? Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy," Gandhi said while sharing an op-ed published in The Indian Express.

"My article shows how this happened, step by step: 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.

"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 destroys public faith in the result. All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers," Gandhi said.

In his article "Match-fixing Maharashtra", Gandhi said, "Voter rolls and CCTV footage are tools to be used to strengthen democracy, not ornaments to be locked up. The people of India have a right to be assured that no records have been or will be trashed." He said he doubted the fairness of Indian elections, "not every time, not everywhere, but often. I am not talking of small-scale cheating, but of industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions".

"But if some earlier election outcomes seemed odd, the outcome of the 2024 Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections is glaringly strange," he noted. PTI