New Delhi/IBNS: Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has trained his guns at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections claiming the polls were rigged.

In an op-ed for The Indian Express, Rahul claimed the Maharashtra elections, where the Mahayuti alliance stormed back to power, was rigged by manipulating various areas of the poll process.

The Congress leader noted five steps on how his arch-rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the largest party in the ruling alliance, managed an unprecedented success for itself and also the bloc in the western state of India.

He wrote on X, "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 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. All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers. 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."

'Rahul Gandhi's goal is to create chaos': BJP

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya hit back sharply at Rahul saying on X, "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. His repeated attempts to sow seeds of doubt and dissension in the minds of voters about our institutional processes are deliberate.

"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. 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. India’s democracy is strong. Its institutions are resilient. And the Indian voter is wise. No amount of manipulation will change that."

'ECI compromised': Rahul Gandhi in the US

In an address in the United States earlier this year, Rahul claimed the Election Commission of India "is compromised" in view of the Maharashtra polls.

Rahul alleged voting malpractices which he claimed to have taken place in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections where the Congress and its allies were decimated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition.

The Congress leader said, "It is very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, and it is very clear that there is something wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times...More people voted in the Maharashtra Assembly elections than there are adults in Maharashtra. The Election Commission gave us a voting figure for 5:30 pm and between 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm, 65 lakh voters voted. This is physically impossible to happen."

"For a voter to vote, it takes approx 3 minutes, and if you do the Math, it would mean that there were lines of voters till 2 AM, but this did not happen...When we asked them for the video graphy, they not only refused but they also changed the law so that now we are not allowed to ask for the video graphy...," he added.

2024 Maharashtra election results

The Mahayuti alliance secured a dominant victory in the November 20, 2024 elections, winning 230 out of 288 Assembly seats.

The BJP emerged as the largest party with a record 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena and NCP won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.

In less than a year after upsetting the Mahayuti in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi bagged 46 out of 288 seats.

The Congress, which was one of the key players in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, won only 16 seats.