The Election Commission on Tuesday dismissed the Congress’ allegations of irregularities in the recently concluded Haryana Assembly elections and accused the party of “raising the smoke of a generic doubt” on the electoral outcome, reported The Indian Express.
In a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the poll panel said that such behaviour is “least expected” from a national party.
Voting for the Haryana Assembly elections was held on October 5 and the results were declared on October 8.
“The commission appreciates the criticality of the considered views of political parties in sustaining and strengthening electoral democracy in the country and assures that it will remain committed towards timely grievance redressal,” it added.
On October 9, the Congress said there were “serious issues” related to the counting of votes and the functioning of Electronic Voting Machines in several districts. The party alleged that Electronic Voting Machines in constituencies where the Bharatiya Janata Party won had their batteries charged to 99% capacity, while those charged to 60-70% battery capacity showed Congress victories. The submitted complaints from 26 constituencies where it claim to have observed this discrepancy.
The Congress subsequently urged the Election Commission to seal the Electronic Voting Machines in 20 Assembly constituencies in Haryana until an investigation is completed over alleged irregularities in the counting process.
The Bharatiya Janata Party won the Haryana election by clinching 48 seats in the 90-member Assembly. This was an increase from the 40 seats the Hindutva party had won in the 2019 polls. The Congress won 37 seats.
Most exit polls projected a victory for the Congress.
On Tuesday, the poll panel said that the Congress, without evidence to support its claims, had “once again raised the smoke of a generic doubt” about the credibility of the electoral outcome “exactly in a similar manner as it has done in recent past”.
“The returning officers have not found any evidence of any wrongdoing in any electoral processes,” the Election Commission said. “A total of 19 representations do not even mention at what point in time the battery was showing 99% capacity, and how does it have a bearing on the results and whether any complaint was made at any stage before the declaration of results.
The commission warned that such “frivolous and unfounded” doubts could create “turbulence” during elections, when anxiety among the public and political parties tends to be high.
Also read: Five reasons for the BJP’s unprecedented third-time win in Haryana
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