The political battle over electoral integrity escalated on Saturday as senior BJP leader Amit Malviya and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hit back at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for his allegations of “rigging” in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
In a scathing post on X, Malviya accused Gandhi of trying to undermine public trust in democratic institutions and the electoral process. “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,” said Malviya, who heads the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department.
Reiterating his earlier claim of a link between Gandhi and American billionaire George Soros, Malviya stated, “This is straight out of George Soros’ playbook – systematically erode people’s faith in their own institutions, so they can be cracked open from within for political gains.”
Malviya slammed Gandhi for being selective in accepting electoral outcomes. “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 said.
The BJP leader also tagged the Election Commission of India’s recent rebuttal to Gandhi’s claims, asserting that “India’s democracy is strong. Its institutions are resilient. And the Indian voter is wise. No amount of manipulation will change that.”
Meanwhile, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also took a dig at Gandhi over his recent article and social media post alleging electoral manipulation in Maharashtra and warning of similar tactics in the upcoming Bihar polls.
“This means that Rahul Gandhi has accepted defeat in Bihar. Until Rahul Gandhi steps onto the ground, understands the facts, and stops giving himself and his party false assurances, his party will never be able to win,” Fadnavis said from Nagpur. “He needs to wake up and face reality. Otherwise, he will continue to make such baseless statements… Neither does Rahul Gandhi understand what he is saying, nor do people understand what he is saying.”
Fadnavis further added, “Rahul Gandhi has accepted defeat in Bihar. He should get down to the ground. He lies to himself.” He also accused Gandhi of insulting Maharashtra voters, saying, “Rahul Gandhi makes baseless statements. He has insulted the voters of Maharashtra.”
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi had posted an article on X alleging that the Maharashtra Assembly elections were “rigged,” laying out a five-step method for how he claimed the manipulation took place – including tampering with the EC appointment panel, adding fake voters, inflating turnout, targeting bogus voting, and covering up the evidence.
