Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi responded to the Election Commission of India’s reply to his rigging allegations in the Maharashtra polls, stating that releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions.

Rahul posted on X, ” Dear EC, You are a Constitutional body. Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions.

If you have nothing to hide, answer the questions in my article and prove it by:

• Publishing consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states including Maharashtra
• Releasing all post-5pm CCTV footage from Maharashtra polling booths.

Evasion won’t protect your credibility. Telling the truth will.”

Earlier, the Election Commission described Rahul’s charge as “unsubstantiated allegations.”

The ECI statement reads, “Unsubstantiated allegations raised against the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are affront to the rule of law. The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to the INC on 24th December 2024 itself, which is available on ECI’s website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again.”

The ECI stated that spreading misinformation is “disrespect towards law,” and attempts to defame are “completely absurd.”

On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Maharashtra assembly election held in November 2024 was “rigged”, and claimed that the same will be repeated in Bihar assembly polls due later this year.

In a post on X, Gandhi shared his article published in a newspaper, explaining the “rigging” in the Maharashtra assembly polls.

“Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy. My article shows how this happened, step by step,” Gandhi said on X.

On Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on Maharashtra rigging allegations in polls, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde said, “In the Lok Sabha elections, when Maha Vikas Aghadi won the elections in Maharashtra, they did not say anything. At that time, the EVMs and ECI were right…They are now trying to spread a fake narrative…The public of Maharashtra is intelligent, it understands which government works for them…The public of Maharashtra will teach them a lesson in the upcoming elections.”