Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 8 (ANI): Reacting to Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI), TMC leader Kunal Ghosh on Sunday said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the first leader to raise her voice against this voter list scam in the country.

On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Maharashtra assembly election held in November 2024 was 'rigged' and claimed the same could happen in the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.

'Mamata Banerjee was the first to raise her voice against this voter list scam in the country. This is what happened in Maharashtra and Delhi. Mamata Banerjee caught it! Through the voter list scam, they are putting the voter lists of other states here. We have given this deputation to the Central Election Commission and conveyed our grievance. TMC is seriously scrutinising the vote list. If the anti-BJP parties of Maharashtra and Delhi could identify this earlier, perhaps the result would have been contrary. BJP would have benefited, but Mamta Banerjee caught this scam in Bengal,' Ghosh told reporters.

He further said that now it is proven that names from the voters' list of other states have been added here.

'Whatever Rahul Gandhi is saying is right, but he should have said it before the Maharashtra polls,' he added.

Earlier, 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)