Senior police officer accuses Himachal top cop of derailing high-profile death probe
A major row has erupted within the Himachal Pradesh Police Department after Shimla Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi alleged the state's Director General of Police (DGP) Atul Verma and Chief Secretary of misconduct in Chief Engineer Vimal Negi death case.SP Gandhi has accused the DGP of interfering in investigations, submitting misleading affidavits and attempting to manipulate sensitive cases.advertisementGandhi alleged that the affidavit filed by the DGP in connection with the death of HPPCL Chief Engineer Vimal Negi was "irresponsible" and contradicted the facts of the case. He claimed he had investigated the case honestly and accused the DGP's personal staff of leaking a letter related to a CID probe. He also said the DGP assigned the case to officers of his own choice and misled the court.
Citing a previous case involving businessman Nishant Sharma, Gandhi said an impartial affidavit had been submitted during former DGP Sanjay Kundu's tenure. He also accused the current DGP of pressuring subordinates to file a false report in a separate incident.Gandhi further alleged that a conspiracy was being planned to frame officers using fabricated evidence created with help from the NSG. He said he informed the state government and the Advocate General about the matter, but no action was taken. Gandhi is now considering filing a Letters Patent Appeal in court.advertisementThe SP also accused the Chief Secretary of attempting to influence the investigation into the Ramakrishna Ashram land dispute. He claimed he was summoned and asked not to question the Ashram head or pursue the probe. Gandhi said pressure was repeatedly exerted on him, but he refused to compromise.In another revelation, Gandhi said he had flagged irregularities during the 2021–22 police recruitment process and believes some senior officials have targeted him since. He maintained that he stands by his 25-year service record and would resign if his honesty is questioned.Meanwhile, a video of a court hearing on the Negi case, shared by BJP MLA Sudhir Sharma, has sparked further controversy. The video discusses disciplinary concerns about Gandhi. In response, Gandhi accused Sharma of trying to defame him and linked the MLA to alleged horse trading during the 2023 Rajya Sabha elections.Sharma has issued a legal notice, denying Gandhi's claims and saying that the video was court-approved. The case involving Vimal Negi's death has now been handed over to the CBI following a Himachal Pradesh High Court order citing concerns over police impartiality.
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Scroll.in
40 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
Rahul Gandhi says alleged ‘match-fixing' in Maharashtra polls ‘blueprint for rigged democracy'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reiterated allegations that there was ' match-fixing ' in the Maharashtra Assembly elections held in November. The state polls were a 'blueprint for rigging democracy', Gandhi claimed on social media. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance had defeated the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes the Congress, in the polls. 'It's not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra,' Gandhi said. 'But rigging is like match-fixing – the side that cheats might win the game, but damages institutions and destroy public faith in the result.' In the social media post, Gandhi also shared a column he wrote in The Indian Express on Saturday. In the article, Gandhi alleged that there had been an ' industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions'. The outcome of the Maharashtra polls was 'glaringly strange', Gandhi said, adding that the scale of the alleged 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…' A 'step-by-step playbook ' had revealed the rigging of the polls, claimed the Opposition leader. 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… — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 7, 2025 Gandhi said that the contentious 2023 Election Commissioners Appointment Act had ensured that the election commissioners were 'effectively chosen' by the prime minister and the Union home minister as they can outvote the leader of the Opposition in the appointment panel. After the Act was passed in December 2023, the appointment of election commissioners is done by the selection committee. The panel consists of the prime minister (as the chairperson), the leader of the Opposition or the single-largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister (currently Union Home Minister Amit Shah). This arrangement was challenged in the Supreme Court, where the matter is pending. The 2023 law to appoint election commissioners did away with an arrangement put in place by a Supreme Court judgement in March 2023 that had formed a panel consisting of the prime minister, the leader of the Opposition and the chief justice of India. The court had said at the time that this committee would remain operative till Parliament came up with a law for the appointment of election commissioners. The Supreme Court-mandated committee had been formed to shield the Election Commission from executive influence. Before this judgement, appointments to the commission were made at the sole discretion of the Union government. Gandhi said on Saturday: 'The decision to place a Cabinet minister instead of the chief justice [of India] on the selection committee does not pass the smell test.' He added that the second step in rigging the polls had been to allegedly inflate the voter list with fake electors. The Opposition leader was reiterating claims his party had made in February. The Congress had at the time urged the Election Commission to explain how the number of registered voters (9.7 crore) for the Maharashtra Assembly polls was more than the adult population of the state (9.5 crore). It also asked the poll panel to share the state's electoral rolls for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls held five months apart. The general election took place in April and May 2024, followed by the state polls in November. The Maharashtra voter turnout had also been inflated, Gandhi claimed in his article on Saturday. He claimed that the turnout when the polling closed at 5 pm was 58.2%, which 'kept increasing', and the final number reported the next morning was 66.05%. 'This unprecedented 7.83 percentage point increase is equivalent to 76 lakh voters – much higher than previous Vidhan Sabha elections in Maharashtra,' he added. Gandhi said that the alleged additional voters were targeted in only about 12,000 booths in 85 constituencies where the BJP had performed poorly in the Lok Sabha polls. Maharashtra has 288 Assembly constituencies. In November, the Election Commission dismissed the Congress' earlier allegations of discrepancies in polling data and the draft electoral rolls of the Maharashtra polls. The Opposition leader also alleged that the Election Commission had tried to 'conceal the evidence trail'. He cited the Union government's decision to amend the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules to restrict access to security camera footage and electronic records of polling. As first reported by Scroll, the Union government on December 20 amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the rules, which stated that 'all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection'. The amended rule says: 'All other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.' With this change – notified by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, in consultation with the Election Commission – not all poll-related papers can be inspected by the public. Only those papers specified in the Conduct of Election Rules can be scrutinised. Courts, too, would also not be able to direct the poll panel to provide all election-related papers for public scrutiny. The Congress has challenged the change of rules in the Supreme Court. Gandhi's aim is to create chaos, says BJP The BJP said that Gandhi's aim was to create chaos. 'His repeated attempts to sow seeds of doubt and dissension in the minds of voters about our institutional processes are deliberate,' alleged the Hindutva party's publicity chief Amit Malviya. The Congress found the electoral system 'fair and just' when it won in Telangana and Karnataka, but started whining and spreading conspiracy theories when it lost polls in Haryana and Maharashtra, Malviya said on social media.
News18
42 minutes ago
- News18
‘Completely Absurd': ECI On Rahul Gandhi's 'Match-Fixing' Claims In Maharashtra Polls
Last Updated: The poll body hit back to the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition's claims with a point wise rebuttal, stating that 'facts are completely being ignored.' The Election Commission on Saturday once again dismissed the allegations raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that there was a large-scale electoral manipulation in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. The poll body hit back to the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition's claims with a point wise rebuttal, stating that 'facts are completely being ignored." What Rahul Gandhi ClaimedSaid? In a post shared on X, the grand-old party leader summarised the key points of an article he wrote for The Indian Express, where he laid out what he claims is a systematic method used to influence the election outcome in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In his article, Gandhi outlined a five-step process he claimed was used to tilt the Maharashtra election. '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," the Leader of Opposition wrote in his post. 'It's not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra," Gandhi wrote in his post. '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," Gandhi added. He also warned that what happened in Maharashtra could be repeated elsewhere. 'The match-fixing of Maharashtra will come to Bihar next, and then anywhere the BJP is losing," he said, calling match-fixed elections are a 'poison" for any democracy. ECI's Rebuttal To Gandhi's Claims Following Rahul Gandhi's X post, the Election Commission hit back stating that 'facts are completely being ignored." 'Unsubstantiated allegations raised against the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are an 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 being completely ignored while raising such issues again and again," the ECI said. Following Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi's tweet on Maharashtra election, ECI says, '…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 INC on 24th… — ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2025 Adding to its rebuttal about how 'facts were being completely ignored" repeatedly, the ECI further said that such actions not only show 'a complete disregard for the law," but also undermine the integrity of thousands of party-appointed representatives and demoralise the lakhs of election officials who, it said, 'work untiringly and transparently during elections." 'After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised, is completely absurd," stated the poll body. Maharashtra Elections 2024 The 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections delivered a sweeping triumph for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured a landslide win with 235 seats. The results marked a significant milestone for the BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party with 132 seats. First Published:
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'Completely absurd': ECI debunks Rahul Gandhi's 'match fixing' allegation; Gandhi called Maharashtra election rigged
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar (left) and Rahul Gandhi. (Photo/Agencies) NEW DELHI: The election commission of India (ECI) on Saturday refuted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi 's claim of "match-fixing" in elections, calling the allegations "completely absurd." While putting a point wise rebuttal of Congress MP's claims, the ECI said, "The entire nation is aware that each election process including the preparation of electoral rolls, polling and counting etc. are all held by Government staff and that too in the presence of authorised representatives formally appointed by Political Parties/ Candidates from polling station upto constituency level." The top poll body added in its statement, "Any misinformation being spread, by anyone, is not only a sign of disrespect towards Law, but also brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by their own political party and demotivates lakhs of election staff who work untiringly and transparently during elections." "After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised, is completely absurd," the statement by ECI read. Earlier in the day, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha outlined the alleged electoral irregularities in a stepwise manner — fake voters are added, voter turnout is inflated, bogus voting is facilitated, and evidence is subsequently hidde "How to steal an election? Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy," Gandhi said while sharing an article written by him. "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," Gandhi wrote. "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 destroys public faith in the result. All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers," Gandhi said. "Because the match-fixing of Maharashtra will come to Bihar next, and then anywhere the BJP is losing," the leader of opposition claimed in his post. Debunking Gandhi's allegations, the ECI said in its statement, "Electoral Rolls in India, including Maharashtra, are prepared as per the Representation of People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. As per law, either just before the elections and/or once every year, Special Summary Revision of the Electoral Rolls is conducted and a final copy of the Electoral Rolls is handed over to all the National/State political parties, including Indian National Congress (INC)." The ECI statement further read, "After the finalisation of these Electoral Rolls during Maharashtra elections, as against 9,77,90,752 Electors, only a total of 89 appeals were filed before the 1st appellate authority (DM) and only 1 appeal was filed before the 2nd appellate authority (CEO). Therefore, it is amply clear that there was no grievance of INC or any other political parties before the conduct of Maharashtra Assembly Elections in 2024. "
