Rahul Gandhi Alleges 'Match-Fixing' in Maharashtra Elections: A Comprehensive Overview
- MGMMTeam
- 19 hours ago
- 8 min read
On Saturday (7th June), Congress MP Rahul Gandhi penned a misleading opinion piece in The Indian Express, where he made a desperate attempt to portray the party’s defeat in the 2024 Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha election as the outcome of ‘industrial-scale rigging.’
The article carried the title ‘Match-fixing Maharashtra.’ Right at the beginning, Rahul Gandhi alleged, “The scale of rigging was so desperate that, despite all efforts to conceal it, tell-tale evidence has emerged from official statistics, without reliance on any nonofficial source, revealing a step-by-step playbook.”
Procedure for Appointing Election Commissioners
To support his bold accusations, the Congress scion claimed that the BJP government ‘manipulated the panel responsible for appointing umpires.’
He highlighted how the government excluded the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the panel tasked with selecting Election Commissioners, thereby ensuring a 2:1 majority in its favor.
Rahul Gandhi implied that this move was an attempt to sideline a ‘neutral arbitrator.’
It is important to note that from the first election in 1951-1952 until March 2023, Election Commissioners were always appointed by the President of India based on recommendations from the Union Cabinet — which was entirely controlled by the ruling party at the time.
However, following the enactment of the 2023 Election Commissioners Appointment Act, at least one-third of the selection panel now includes a representative from the Opposition — a provision that did not exist during all the elections won by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party.
This legislation, introduced by the Modi government, curtailed arbitrary judicial activism and sent a clear message to the judiciary about the distinct powers of the Executive and Legislature. Moreover, the amendment actually reduced the ruling party’s unchecked authority over the appointment of Election Commissioners — a privilege Congress had long enjoyed while in power. Previously, the ruling party at the Centre could unilaterally decide these appointments, but the Modi government diluted its own influence by including the Leader of the Opposition in the selection process.
While Rahul Gandhi criticizes the Modi government for making the process more transparent and balanced, he should also recall that during Congress’s tenure, Sonia Gandhi, often referred to as the ‘Super PM,’ appointed Election Commissioners despite not holding any constitutional position or authority to do so. There is a saying that those who have much to hide often accuse others of what they themselves are guilty of — a saying that seems particularly fitting for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party.
False assertions of exaggerated voter registration
Rahul Gandhi also misled The Indian Express readers regarding the ‘inflated registration of new voters,’ falsely asserting that the number of voters in the 2024 Maharashtra election exceeded the total adult population of the state.
He had claimed, “Election Commission (EC) data show that the number of registered voters in Maharashtra in the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections was 8.98 crore, which rose five years later to 9.29 crore for the May 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But a mere five months later, by the November 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections, the number had leaped to 9.70 crore. A crawl of 31 lakh in five years, then a leap of 41 lakh in just five months.”
Examining historical data on the increase in voter numbers across the last five Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections—setting aside the election outcomes—the percentage growth in voters between Lok Sabha and Assembly elections has remained fairly consistent, hovering around 4% on four occasions.
Specifically, the voter increase was 4.26% in 2024, 1.31% in 2019, 3.48% in 2014, 4.13% in 2009, and 4.69% (which is even higher than 2024) in 2004.
Moreover, when Rahul Gandhi raised similar allegations immediately after the election, the Election Commission of India (ECI) promptly dismissed them, clarifying that Congress had been actively involved in the voter registration process and had full access to the voter lists. No objections were raised by the party at that time.
The ECI highlighted that all political parties, including Congress, had access to the voter lists. The entire process was closely monitored by 97,000 Booth Level Officers and 103,000 Booth Level Agents, among whom 27,099 were appointed by Congress itself.
If Rahul Gandhi genuinely believes the voter registration figures were inflated, he might want to question the 27,099 booth level agents from his own party who had the responsibility to detect any discrepancies. More importantly, could it be that these agents were behind the alleged “inflation” of numbers that Rahul Gandhi claims?
Therefore, Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to associate increased voter registration with fraud lacks credibility and does not hold up.
Rahul Gandhi falsely claims voter turnout was ‘inflated’
The Gandhi heir accused the election day voter turnout of being fraudulent.
He asserted, “The polling turnout at 5 pm was 58.22 per cent. Even after voting closed, however, turnout kept increasing more and more. The final turnout was reported only the next morning to be 66.05 per cent. This unprecedented 7.83 percentage point increase is equivalent to 76 lakh voters — much higher than previous Vidhan Sabha elections in Maharashtra.”
The Election Commission had already disproved this recurring falsehood from the Congress party in November 2024.
At that time, Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam explained that the rise in voter turnout after polling hours was normal and followed established procedures.
“In Maharashtra, voters were in queue at 6 p.m. in many of the polling stations. Even in 2019, the percentages were 54.43% (approx) at 5 p.m. and 61.10% at final [count]. In urban and semi-urban areas, which constitute a large chunk in Maharashtra, a large number of voters come in the evening,” he had claimed.
“It is important to note that two-hourly voter turnout information on the day of polling up to 5 p.m. is based on oral telephonic communication only. On the other hand, Form-17C which is given at the ‘Close of Poll’ to polling agents, matches with the final percentage and votes counted. Information in Form-17 C is matched by Candidate’s counting agents while counting,” the Chief Electoral Officer further stressed.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) clarified that the average voting rate stands at 58 lakh votes per hour, implying that as many as 1.16 crore votes could have been cast during the last two hours. However, in the elections Rahul Gandhi is attempting to undermine, only 65 lakh votes were recorded in those final two hours—significantly below the average. Despite these clear facts, Rahul Gandhi persists in spreading falsehoods.
Rahul Gandhi Intentionally Confuses Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha Election Results
The Gandhi heir attempted to justify the Congress party’s poor showing in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha election by linking it to the outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state.
“The BJP bagged 132 out of the 149 seats it contested in the 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections, a strike rate of 89 per cent, far beyond what it has scored any time or anywhere. In comparison, the BJP’s strike rate in the Lok Sabha elections only five months earlier had been 32 per cent,” he accused them of creating a selective list of booths where Congress had weak performance.
It is well-known that voter behavior varies between Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. This can be illustrated by the 2019 elections in Odisha, where both polls were held simultaneously.
The outcomes, however, were notably different. In the Lok Sabha election, the BJP won 38% of the seats (8 out of 21) in Odisha, whereas in the Vidhan Sabha election, it managed only 15.6% of the seats (23 out of 147).
As mentioned earlier, these elections took place at the same time. In contrast, Maharashtra’s Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections were separated by a five-month gap.
Rahul Gandhi deliberately used these differing voting patterns in separate elections to allege ‘rigging.’
False claims about concealing the ‘evidence trail’
The Congress party often resorts to spreading falsehoods and then conveniently changes its narrative whenever confronted with criticism and facts.
It began by casting doubts over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), then shifted focus to voter turnout and the alleged addition or deletion of names in the electoral rolls—claims repeatedly refuted by the Election Commission.
Rahul Gandhi attempted to malign the Election Commission by stating, “The EC has met all Opposition queries with silence and even aggression.”
In truth, the electoral authority has been transparent and proactive in addressing the Congress party’s concerns regarding the Maharashtra elections from the very beginning.
The Gandhi scion further claimed, “It summarily dismissed requests to make available voter rolls with photos for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.”
However, detailed voter information for each Maharashtra constituency is publicly accessible on the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maharashtra’s official website.
Rahul Gandhi went even further by insinuating a conspiracy between the ruling BJP government and the Election Commission to ‘conceal evidence.’ The Indian Express published these allegations without conducting any verification or fact-checking.
Did BJP win in the majority of the seats where voter turnout increased?
In his article for the Indian Express, Rahul Gandhi asserts, “There are around 1 lakh polling booths in Maharashtra, but the majority of the added voters were concentrated in just about 12,000 booths across 85 constituencies where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had underperformed in the previous Lok Sabha elections. This amounts to an average of over 600 voters per booth after 5 pm. Assuming optimistically that each voter takes one minute to cast their vote, voting would have had to continue for 10 hours. Since this did not happen, it raises the question — how were these extra votes cast? Unsurprisingly, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won most of these 85 seats.”
Firstly, one must admire Rahul Gandhi’s remarkable ability to spin narratives that defy logic. He claims it would take 10 hours (600 minutes) for 600 people to vote, concluding that the turnout figures must be “inflated” because such a scenario is impossible. Perhaps Rahul Gandhi is basing his calculations on voting procedures in some other country, but in India, it certainly doesn’t take a full minute to vote. Once it’s a voter’s turn, it generally takes no more than 30 seconds to approach the machine, vote, verify the VVPAT slip, and leave.
Moreover, Rahul Gandhi assumes that each polling booth consists of only one polling room and a single voting machine, which is incorrect. Each booth actually has multiple rooms and voting machines, allowing multiple voters to cast their ballots simultaneously.
Additionally, his claim that the BJP won most of the 85 constituencies with increased voter registrations is demonstrably false. In fact, in 53 of those seats where voter turnout increased, opposition parties—not the BJP—emerged victorious.
Take Mumbadevi, for instance, where the voter base increased by 5,730 from the 2024 Lok Sabha to the 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections. Congress won this seat with a margin of 36,566 votes, which is more than six times the increase in registered voters.
Similarly, Palus Kadegaon was won by Congress, with an increase of 8,291 voters and a winning margin of 30,064 votes.
In Nagpur North, voter numbers rose by 23,421, yet Congress secured victory by 28,467 votes.
In Dharavi, the electorate grew by 8,653, and Congress won with a margin of 23,459 votes.
Overall, 16 seats that saw an increase in voters were won by Congress, and in another 37 such seats, other opposition parties claimed victory.
So, one must ask—does Rahul Gandhi’s argument imply that the BJP “rigged” the elections only to hand over 53 seats to its opponents? If not, then it appears Rahul Gandhi is once again fabricating falsehoods.
Conclusion
Towards the conclusion of his vitriolic and misleading opinion piece, Rahul Gandhi—who has himself repeatedly questioned the Election Commission’s integrity—raised concerns about ‘public apprehensions’ regarding the conduct of the 2024 Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha election.
“There is a fear that the tactics of election rigging have been in operation for years. Undoubtedly, a thorough review of records would reveal the methods used and the identities of those involved. Yet, both the Opposition and the public are consistently denied access to these records,” he claimed.
Rather than engaging in self-reflection and making necessary corrections, the Congress party has reverted to its familiar strategy of playing the blame game, spinning conspiracy theories, and making baseless accusations of institutional corruption whenever it fails to secure electoral victories.
This controversy arises at a time when India is actively engaged in ‘Operation Sindoor’—a campaign aimed at avenging the brutal killing of innocent civilians (mainly Hindus) in the Pahalgam terror attack.
While the Modi government has dispatched multi-party delegations to advance India’s position, Rahul Gandhi remains fixated on rehashing the issue of the 2024 Maharashtra election.
It is evident that the defeat suffered by the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance (which includes the Congress party) in the Maharashtra elections held seven months ago continues to trouble the Gandhi family scion.
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