The Election Commission of India (ECI) has stated that Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has yet to respond to its June 12, 2025 letter, which invited him for a formal discussion over his allegations of election rigging in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Rahul Gandhi had authored a June 7 opinion piece alleging that the 2024 Maharashtra polls were orchestrated with added fake voters and administration manipulation—claims he warned could repeat in Bihar’s upcoming elections. The ECI responded by sending a detailed invitation, offering an in-person meeting at a mutually convenient timing, and asking him to submit formal grievances if any remained unaddressed .

EC officials dismissed his claims as “baseless and unsubstantiated,” highlighting that Gandhi has not taken up the offer to write to the commission or schedule a meeting. “Why? Is it because his media statements were baseless?” they questioned .

In its letter, the commission emphasised that the Maharashtra elections were conducted strictly under parliamentary laws, with a comprehensive decentralised process involving over 1,00,186 Booth Level Officers (BLOs), 288 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 139 General Observers, and more than 1,08,000 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) nominated by political parties—including 28,421 agents for the INC alone.

The ECI noted that Congress candidates were presumed to have raised issues via election petitions in courts, and reaffirmed its openness to additional discussion should Rahul Gandhi choose to proceed with a formal submission.