New Delhi, June 9 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday said that Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was "taken aback" by its detailed rebuttal to his allegations of systematic rigging of the November 2024 Maharashtra elections. The poll body also pointed out that more than 24 hours after his claims were published, Gandhi had "neither written any letter to [the] ECI nor sought any time for a meeting".

In an op-ed published on Saturday, Gandhi claimed that the Maharashtra assembly elections were a "blueprint for rigging democracy" and alleged "industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions".

The Congress MP's claims were rejected by ECI officials on the condition ...