Former MP and Congress's Maharashtra in-charge, Ramesh Chennithala, questioned the results of Maharashtra Assembly polls, a day after Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi charged the state elections were "rigged".
Backing Gandhi's claims, Chennithala said in a social media post on X that the Maharashtra Assembly polls was "hijacked" through deceit, manipulation, and it was a "systematic subversion of the people’s mandate". Chennithala said the seats Bharatiya Janata Party lost in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha polls were the reason why it fell short of an absolute majority.
With irrefutable facts, Rahul Gandhi lays bare how democracy was hijacked in Maharashtra through deceit, manipulation, and a systematic subversion of the people’s mandate.
— Ramesh Chennithala (@chennithala) June 7, 2025
When I first took charge as in-charge in 2024, the first Lok Sabha election saw the Congress-led Maha Vikas…
"And yet, within just six months, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which should have secured no less than 170 Assembly seats, was reduced to a mere 50. Can anyone genuinely believe this was the result of the ruling regime’s governance? Even the most blindly loyal BJP supporter would struggle to accept that narrative," Chennithala charged in a post on X.
"It was a meticulously orchestrated operation, a calculated assault on the democratic process. Maharashtra’s democracy wasn’t defeated. It was butchered", the senior Congress leader from Kerala charged.
Alleging manipulation, Chennithala charged, "On polling day, by the time voting officially ended, the reported voter turnout was 58.22%. As per standard practice, those still in line are allowed to cast their votes even after time ends. But there were no reports of long queues or extended voting hours. Yet, by the next morning, the final turnout had miraculously risen to 66.05% — an overnight jump of 7.83%. That’s over 7.6 million additional votes, most of which curiously favoured BJP candidates."
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Chennithala said Rahul Gandhi has uncovered the disturbing truth about the Maharashtra polls.
In an article on Indian Express, Gandhi on Saturday charged the Maharashtra Assembly polls were rigged and accused the Election Commission of manipulating the electoral roll in favour of ruling BJP. However, the Election Commission denied the charges and called them "unsubstantiated allegations".
