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News18
3 hours ago
- Politics
- News18
‘You Never Learn...': Fadnavis' Rhyme-Laced Jibe At Rahul Gandhi On Rigged Polls Claims
Last Updated: Rahul Gandhi ignited a political row after he claimed that a systematic method was used to influence the Maharashtra election outcome in favour of BJP. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday took a subtle yet sharp rebuke at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he claimed 'match-fixing" in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections saying that Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha has made the same mistake throughout his entire life. While speaking to reporters in Pune, Fadnavis took a poetic jibe at Gandhi and said, ' Ta-umr Rahul Gandhi aap yahi galti karte rahe, dhool chehre pe thi aur aap aina saaf karte rahe (Throughout your life, Rahul Gandhi, you have always made the same mistake; The dust was on your face, but you kept cleaning the mirror)." #WATCH | Pune | Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis says, ''Ta-umr Rahul Gandhi aap yahi galti karte rahe, dhool chehre pe thi aur aap aina saaf karte rahe' (Throughout your life, Rahul Gandhi, you have always made the same mistake; The dust was on your face, but you… — ANI (@ANI) June 8, 2025 Earlier today, he called the allegations 'nonsense," a 'lie," and 'an insult to voters." In an article written for a Marathi daily, Fadnavis said the 'one whom the public rejects, rejects the mandate." 'If you cannot convince people, then confuse them. This is the policy that Rahul Gandhi is adopting," Fadnavis said. He further said the Congress has been rejected by the people, which is why they are now tarnishing the image of democracy by blaming the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). 'It has now become a habit for the opposition parties to raise questions on the EVM in every election in Maharashtra. All petitions against the EVM have been dismissed by the Supreme Court," he added. Fadnavis also said that Gandhi is a leader 'who cannot accept failure". 'Are EVMs right in the elections in which the Congress government wins?" he asked. 'Respect the mandate. The public is watching everyone. Now, excuses will not work, and the accountability will be fixed," he concluded. What Rahul Gandhi Claimed? Rahul Gandhi ignited a political row after he claimed that a systematic method was used to influence the Maharashtra election outcome in favour of BJP. In a post on X, the grand-old party leader summarised the key points of an article he wrote for The Indian Express, where he described the so-called electoral manipulation. 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 The ECI responded to the Lok Sabha LoP's allegations with a point wise rebuttal, 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. Maharashtra Elections The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance had scored a massive and astonishing victory over Maha Vikas Aghadi in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The unprecedented electoral sweep is a record win as no alliance has ever crossed the magic mark of 200 seats in the Maharashtra polls. The ruling Mahayuti had won 234 of the 288 seats in the Maharashtra elections, with the BJP emerging as the single largest party, winning 132 seats on its own. About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from More Get Latest Updates on Movies, Breaking News On India, World, Live Cricket Scores, And Stock Market Updates. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : Devendra Fadnavis election commission Maharashtra elections Rahul Gandhi Location : Pune, India, India First Published: June 08, 2025, 16:55 IST
NDTV
10 hours ago
- Politics
- NDTV
'Article vs Article': Devendra Fadnavis Responds To Rahul Gandhi's Poll Rigging Claim
Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Devendra Fadnavis has responded to Rahul Gandhi's allegations of electoral fraud in Maharashtra. He criticized Mr Gandhi for questioning the integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Mr Fadnavis said that Mr Gandhi is a leader "who cannot accept failure". Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he claimed "match-fixing" in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections and said the "one whom the public rejects, rejects the mandate." His response comes a day after Mr Gandhi, in an op-ed for The Indian Express, questioned the way the Maharashtra Assembly elections, in which the alliance of the Congress, the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena suffered a humiliating defeat, were conducted. "If you cannot convince people, then confuse them. This is the policy that Rahul Gandhi is adopting," Mr Fadnavis wrote in a Marathi daily on Sunday, a day after he said he would respond to the "article with an article". He said the Congress has been rejected by the people, which is why they are now tarnishing the image of democracy by blaming the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). "It has now become a habit for the opposition parties to raise questions on the EVM in every election in Maharashtra. All petitions against the EVM have been dismissed by the Supreme Court," the senior BJP leader wrote. Mr Fadnavis also said that Mr Gandhi is a leader "who cannot accept failure". "Are EVMs right in the elections in which the Congress government wins?" he asked. "Respect the mandate. The public is watching everyone. Now, excuses will not work, and the accountability will be fixed," he concluded. The alliance of the Congress, Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, known as the Maha Vikas Aghadi, managed to win only 46 of the state's 288 assembly seats between them in the November 20 elections. The BJP-led alliance, Mahayuti, which comprised the then Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, secured 235 seats. The BJP alone won 132 seats, its best performance in the state's history. What Rahul Gandhi Said On Maharashtra Polls Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, outlined the alleged electoral irregularities in the Maharashtra polls in a five-step manner. "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," Mr Gandhi wrote in a post on X that accompanied a cutout of his June 7 op-ed. 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 In the article, the Congress MP said he has "doubted the fairness of Indian elections, not every time, not everywhere, but often enough". "I am not talking of small-scale cheating, but of industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions," he wrote. "But if some earlier election outcomes seemed odd, the outcome of the 2024 Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections is glaringly strange. The scale of 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, revealing a step-by-step playbook," he added. He said that "rigging is like match-fixing - the fixing side might win a game, but irreparable damage is done to institutions and to people's faith in the result." "Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy," Mr Gandhi said. Hours after his X post, the Election Commission re-released a document it had issued in April this year and said his allegations are "completely absurd".
