Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has claimed that the Election Commission of India was "compromised," alleging that there was "something very wrong with the system."
The Leader of Opposition (LoP), who is in the US on an official visit, was addressing the Indian diaspora in Boston on Sunday, April 20.
Giving the example of last year's Maharashtra Assembly elections, Gandhi claimed there was an addition of 65 lakh voters to the voter list in two hours “which was impossible.”
"More people voted in Maharashtra than the total number of people in Maharashtra, and this is a fact... the Election Commission gave us a figure in the evening around 5:30 p.m., and in two hours, around 7:30 p.m., 65 lakh voters had voted, which is physically impossible," news agency quoted him as saying.
“It's very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, there is something very wrong with the system,” he added.
Soon after the Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, including Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, and the Congress, levelled voter list fraud allegations against the poll panel. The Election Commission dismissed the claims, labelling them as "misleading" and "factually incorrect."
Rahul Gandhi on US-India ties
Rahul Gandhi also discussed US-India ties during his address in Boston. “We have a partnership with the US, and hopefully, we will continue to work together,” he said.
He also thanked people for carrying the ideologies and the flag of his party, Congress, beyond the borders of the country.
“You believe, you listen to other people, and you respect them. This is what runs in the Congress party and in our family.... Thank you for carrying the flag here, it's a very powerful thing to do,” Gandhi said.
As part of his US tour, Rahul Gandhi will also address a gathering at Brown University on Monday.