'Something wrong with system': Rahul alleges Maha election fraud amid US visit

New Delhi: Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, currently visiting the United States, has expressed significant concerns about the integrity of India's electoral process. He alleged voter fraud and accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of being compromised.

While addressing the Indian diaspora in Boston, Gandhi highlighted discrepancies in voter turnout figures during the Maharashtra Assembly elections as a prominent example.

“More people voted in the Maharashtra Assembly elections than there are registered voters,” Gandhi claimed.

“The Election Commission gave us a figure at 5.30 in the evening. Then, between 5.30 and 7.30 p.m., 65 lakh additional votes were cast. That is physically impossible to manage in just two hours.”

Rahul Gandhi further raised doubts about the practicality of such a significant surge in voter turnout within a narrow timeframe.

“This would mean there were queues of voters stretching into the early hours of the morning. We raised this with the Election Commission and asked for video evidence, but they refused to provide it. It was very clear to us that the Commission was compromised.”

“There is something very wrong with the system. I’ve said this multiple times,” he reiterated, adding that the erosion of institutional independence is a growing concern.

Rahul Gandhi is set to address a gathering at Brown University during his U.S. visit.

In the Maharashtra elections last year, Congress secured only 16 seats with a 12.42% vote share. Its alliance partners fared similarly poorly, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning 20 seats with nearly a 10% vote share and NCP (SP) managing just 10 seats with an 11.28% vote share.

Meanwhile, the MahaYuti coalition, comprising BJP, NCP, and Shiv Sena, achieved a sweeping victory, securing 230 seats collectively and forming the government with an absolute majority.

(inputs from IANS)