Almost all of the opposition against Putin was rigged too. Come on, Zyuganov was an opposition leader, as part of the Russian Communist Party? Give me a break. Zyuganov is part of the show there. Putin and Zyuganov are close friends.
Well actually out of the three Putin still is the best bet. The other two are even more hard core than Putin.
BTW Putin simply keeps his most formidable enemies close.