Rahul Gandhi claims electoral manipulation in Maharashtra, warns Bihar could be next: ‘Match-fixed elections are poison’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has alleged electoral manipulation in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating a “match-fixing” scheme to tilt the results in its favour. The Mahayuti alliance – comprising of the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP – swept 235 out of 288 seats. With 132 seats, the BJP registered its best-ever performance in the state.

In an op-ed for The Indian Express, the Congress leader claimed that a five-step model was adopted by the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance destabilise the democratic process in the state.

Sharing a cut-out of his article on X, Gandhi highlighted the five steps as: “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 destroy public faith in the result,” he added.

“All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers,” Gandhi stated.

Expressing concerns, the Congress leader further said that Maharashtra episode could set a precedent for similar occurrences in other states.

“Because the match-fixing of Maharashtra will come to Bihar next, and then anywhere the BJP is losing. Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy,” he wrote.

How to steal an election?Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy.My article shows how this happened, step by step:Step 1: Rig the panel for appointing the Election CommissionStep 2: Add fake voters to the rollStep 3: Inflate voter pic.twitter.com/ntCwtPVXTu
Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 7, 2025

While the BJP celebrated a decisive win the 2024 polls, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- consisting of Congress, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) – managed to get just 50 seats. The outcome dealt a big blow to Pawar and Thackeray, who had recently lost control of their respective parties and election symbols.