Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], June 7 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegation that the 2024 Maharashtra assembly election was "rigged" and that the same would happen in Bihar's upcoming polls. He called the claims "nonsense," a "lie," and "an insult to voters."
"This means that Rahul Gandhi has accepted his defeat in Bihar. Till the time Rahul Gandhi comes to the ground and understands facts, lies to people, and gives false hopes to himself and his party, his party can never win," Fadnavis told reporters.
"He will have to wake up and understand the reality. Otherwise, he will keep speaking nonsense, keep lying, and insulting voters... Neither does Rahul Gandhi understand what he's saying, nor do people understand what he's saying," he added.
On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Maharashtra assembly election held in November 2024 was "rigged", and claimed that the same will be repeated in Bihar assembly polls due later this year.
In a post on X, Gandhi shared his article published in a newspaper, explaining the "rigging" in the Maharashtra assembly polls.
"Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy. My article shows how this happened, step by step," Gandhi said on X.
The former Congress President explained a five-point process. He said that step one includes rigging the panel that appoints the Election Commission, followed by adding fake voters to the electoral roll.
He further claimed that the next steps include inflating the voter turnout, targeting the bogus voting exactly where the BJP needs to win and hiding the evidence.
"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," Gandhi said.
He further labelled rigging as "match-fixing", saying that the side cheats might win the game but damage institutions and destroy public faith in the result.
"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 will damage institutions and destroy public faith in the result. All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers," the Rae Bareli MP said.
Gandhi warned that the "match-fixing" of Maharashtra would come to Bihar next, where the polls are due later this year, and then "anywhere" the BJP was losing elections.
"Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy," he added.
The Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024 witnessed a decisive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance, securing a landslide win with 235 seats. The results marked a significant milestone for the BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party with 132 seats.