Rahul Gandhi speaks on Maharashtra polls in US

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 21, Apr 2025, 10:52 am IST | UPDATED: 21, Apr 2025, 10:52 am IST

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is on a visit to the United States. Addressing the Indian diaspora in Boston, the Congress leader raked up the issue of Maharashtra elections and doubted the Indian electoral process, saying that the Election Commission is compromised. He claimed that there is something very wrong with the system.

Speaking on the Maharashtra polls, Gandhi said that there was an addition of 65 lakh voters to the voter list in two hours, which was impossible. "It's very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, there is something very wrong with the system,’ he said.

"More people voted in Maharashtra than the total number of people in Maharashtra, and this is a fact... the Election Commission gave us a figure in the evening around 5:30 p.m., and in two hours around 7:30 p.m., 65 lakh voters had voted, which is physically impossible,” the Congress leader claimed.

Earlier, sources within the Election Commission dismissed allegations by political parties regarding manipulated electoral rolls, calling them baseless. They noted that very few first or second appeals were filed under Section 24 of the Representation of the People Act, which allows for correction of entries in the electoral rolls. According to sources, just 89 appeals were recorded in Maharashtra.

Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s criticisms on the electoral process of the country, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pradeep Bhandari said, “Anti Democracy, Anti India Rahul Gandhi who could not win the trust of Indian electorate begins to question Indian democratic process on a foreign soil. Why does Rahul always defame India on a foreign soil? An agent of George Soros who is Fighting Indian state - that's what Rahul Gandhi’s intent today is!