Mumbai, Jun 8 (PTI) BJP leaders replying to Rahul Gandhi’s questions on the 2024 Maharashtra polls instead of the Election Commission of India confirms the “match-fixing” charge, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said on Sunday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fandavis’ article, with facts and figures to refute Gandhi’s claims, was published in Indian Express and Marathi daily Loksatta during the day. Earlier, top BJP leaders, including party chief JP Nadda, had slammed Gandhi for casting aspersions on the country’s electoral process.

“BJP leaders are replying on behalf of the Election Commission, which is concerning. It only confirms that match-fixing did take place. Rahul Gandhi, in his detailed article, has exposed how the Maharashtra assembly elections were marred by fraud, manipulation, and a systematic violation of the people’s mandate amounting to a brutal assault on democracy,” Chennithala said in a statement.

The ECI must respond to serious questions raised by Gandhi, who has exposed a “disturbing truth”, Chennithala said while asserting the happenings related to the state polls were not accidental but a meticulously-planned operation.

“Maharashtra, once a beacon of democratic values, is now witnessing a deep erosion of those values. The Congress has been consistently following up with the Election Commission, but so far, the responses have been superficial and unsatisfactory,” the AICC in charge for the state said.

Chennithala said when the Chandigarh High Court ordered release of CCTV footage in connection with the Haryana assembly polls, the Union government, with help from the EC, changed the rules and blocked that information.

“Why was that done? And for whose benefit?” he asked.

The Maharashtra polls involved manipulation in the voter list, large-scale bogus voting and artificial inflation of vote percentages, Chennithala alleged.

“In the Lok Sabha election, Congress and its allies won a sweeping mandate. Then how could the outcome reverse so drastically within just five months? This reeks of electoral fraud,” he said.

The refusal to conduct a mock drill in Markadwadi (where some people sought a repoll after alleging EVM manipulation) itself is a sign that something was being hidden, he added.

The BJP and EC are trying to hide the truth but the Congress will pursue it relentlessly till democratic integrity is restored, Chennithala asserted. PTI MR BNM