Rahul Gandhi’s Rigging Rhetoric: An Eroding Strategy or Pre-emptive Excuse?

Paromita Das
New Delhi, 10th June:  In a political culture defined by fierce rhetoric and strategic spin, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s latest salvo has once again raised eyebrows and sparked debate. In an opinion piece and subsequent remarks, Gandhi accused the ruling BJP of “match-fixing” the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections and warned that Bihar could be next in line. The comments were not only controversial but emblematic of a pattern that Gandhi and his party seem increasingly reliant on—casting doubt on electoral processes to preemptively explain electoral defeats.

A Familiar Refrain with a Predictable Tone

Instead of introspecting and acknowledging the changing political landscape, Gandhi continues to walk down the beaten path of blame externalization. Ever since the Congress Party’s sharp decline post-2014, Gandhi has routinely resorted to conspiracy theories—ranging from EVM tampering to alleging electoral rigging—as explanations for electoral setbacks. His recent claim that “Maharashtra was match-fixed and Bihar could be next” follows this script to the letter.

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… pic.twitter.com/ntCwtPVXTu

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 7, 2025

What is particularly striking is how these allegations are made without credible evidence and often in direct contradiction to the explanations offered by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The ECI has repeatedly debunked such claims, most recently after the Maharashtra elections, where it offered a point-by-point clarification on voter turnout and electoral roll procedures.

Undermining Institutions Without Evidence

By targeting the Election Commission, Gandhi inadvertently damages the credibility of one of the country’s most critical democratic institutions. The ECI, in its rebuttals, emphasized that the Form 17C—a document recording actual polling data—is handed to authorized polling agents and is impossible to tamper with post-voting. Despite this, Gandhi pushes a narrative that suggests the entire democratic apparatus is compromised.

Such baseless allegations demoralize lakhs of election officials who conduct polls under challenging conditions, while also eroding public trust in a system that has, by and large, functioned with transparency and credibility.

The Hypocrisy of Selective Outrage

A glaring contradiction in Gandhi’s argument lies in the selective application of his outrage. If elections are indeed “rigged,” as he claims, how has the INDIA alliance, of which Congress is a member, formed governments in Karnataka, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana? If the system is as broken as he suggests, then even these victories would be called into question. But they are not—because in the opposition’s playbook, the elections are only flawed when the results don’t go their way.

This inconsistency extends to other opposition figures as well. For instance, Arvind Kejriwal echoed similar doubts about the Delhi Assembly elections in 2025. Before votes were even counted, he accused the EC of hiding data, only to be corrected by Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer, who confirmed that election rules were followed “in letter and spirit.” These patterns reflect a broader trend of undermining institutions to prepare a political fallback, not a genuine attempt to bring transparency.

A Strategic Ploy or Political Insecurity?

So what drives this repetition of debunked narratives? At its core, Rahul Gandhi’s rhetoric seems to stem from a deep-seated insecurity about the Congress Party’s electoral appeal. Once India’s dominant political force, the Congress has seen its voter base shrink dramatically. Rather than recalibrating its strategies, leadership, or ideological positioning, the party appears content blaming others for its misfortunes.

This points to a strategic flaw. In a democracy, losing elections is not uncommon. But refusing to accept results—or worse, discrediting them without evidence—reflects a failure of leadership, not just politically, but ethically. It signals that Gandhi is more invested in creating a cushion for political failure than building a credible, reformist agenda that resonates with voters.

Time to Break the Cycle of Excuses

Rahul Gandhi’s persistence with the rigging narrative might serve to energize a small, disenchanted base, but in the broader political discourse, it appears desperate and unimaginative. Elections are won with vision, leadership, and ground-level organization—not with post-facto finger-pointing. If Congress is serious about reclaiming relevance, it must abandon this pattern and focus on policy, outreach, and alliance-building grounded in realism.

There’s also a moral imperative. When a party that once led the nation repeatedly challenges the legitimacy of every electoral loss, it sends a dangerous message to future generations: that institutions are disposable, and losing is never your fault.

A Strategy That No Longer Works

As Bihar gears up for its assembly elections later this year, one hopes the debate will center around development, governance, and leadership, not pre-scripted allegations of electoral fraud. Rahul Gandhi’s claims may provide short-term political oxygen, but in the long run, they do little more than expose the vacuum of ideas in his party.

The Indian electorate is more discerning than ever. If Congress hopes to regain its place in Indian politics, it must realize that credibility is built, not conjured, and trust in institutions is a democratic cornerstone—not a disposable asset.