Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 7 (ANI): Following Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's allegations that Maharashtra assembly election held in November 2024 was 'rigged' and the same will be repeated in Bihar, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had caught the rigging in West Bengal and there is an ongoing plot to add voters from other states to the state going to polls.

Kunal Ghosh said, 'The voter list had several irregularities. Mamata ji caught this in Bengal. Voters of other states were added to Bengal's voter list. When this happened in Maharashtra, at the time of election, it was the responsibility of the Opposition there to catch this. But they could not identify it at that time. This happened in Delhi. But in Bengal, Mamata Banerjee and TMC identified this, and we protested. We told the Election Commission about this. This was a plot. We had been making these allegations for much longer. Mamata ji was the first in the country to protest against this. There is an ongoing plot to add voters from other states to this one.'

He further said that the TMC party is scrutinising voters' list on booth level by visiting every houses.

'The survey is going on. Following the process of the Election Commission, whatever is required to check the voters' list legally, we are doing it,' he added.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Maharashtra assembly election held in November 2024 was 'rigged', and claimed that the same will be repeated in Bihar assembly polls due later this year.

In a post on X, Gandhi shared his article published in a newspaper, explaining the 'rigging' in the Maharashtra assembly polls.' Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy. My article shows how this happened, step by step,' Gandhi said on X.

The former Congress President explained a five-point process. He said that step one includes rigging the panel that appoints the Election Commission, followed by adding fake voters to the electoral roll.

He further claimed that the next steps include inflating the voter turnout, targeting the bogus voting exactly where the BJP needs to win and hiding the evidence.

'Step 1: Rig the panel for appointing the Election Commission; Step 2: Add fake voters to the roll; Step 3: Inflate voter turnout; Step 4: Target the bogus voting exactly where the BJP needs to win; Step 5: Hide the evidence,' Gandhi said.

He further labelled rigging as 'match-fixing', saying that the side cheats might win the game but damage institutions and destroy public faith in the result.

'It's not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra. But rigging is like match-fixing, the side that cheats might win the game, but will damage institutions and destroy public faith in the result. All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers,' the Rae Bareli MP said.

Gandhi warned that the 'match-fixing' of Maharashtra would come to Bihar next, where the polls are due later this year, and then 'anywhere' the BJP was losing elections. 'Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy,' he added. (ANI)