EC rejects Congress charges of irregularities in Haryana Assembly election

Representative image. Former Haryana CM and party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda addresses the media after a meeting of Congress delegation with the Election Commission over concerns on Haryana Assembly election results, in New Delhi
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Election Commission on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) rejected as “baseless” allegations made by the Congress of irregularities in the Haryana Assembly election and cautioned it and other political parties against “unfounded and sensational” complaints at sensitive junctures such as polling and counting days.

In a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the commission said “irresponsible” allegations can lead to public unrest, turbulence, and chaos.

Also read: Haryana polls: Why did Congress’s higher vote share in rural areas not translate into more seats?

“The commission would also like to recall that, seen in retrospect, INC is persistently raising unfounded doubts on the ‘core’ aspects of Indian electoral process, with a sort of discernible pattern of timelines and approach,” it said.

The poll body said the Congress should refrain from making baseless allegations election after election and asserted that each step in the electoral process in Haryana was flawless and done under the watch of Congress candidates or agents

The commission said that while it normally refrained from responding to grievances relating to constituency- specific decentralised electoral processes, it was duty-bound to protect and defend the integrity of the core design of this statutory decentralised scheme that was being sought to be eroded by “generic” petitions or grievances setting out “false narratives without any evidence whatsoever, raised in proximity to polling or counting day, which have serious potential to fuel the surcharged environment”.

The poll body said there was a noticeable and documented trend of picking up any ordinary aspect of the electronic voting machine (EVM) system for projecting it as a “new or fresh doubt” at the national level.  It urged the Congress to take firm and concrete steps and curb tendency of frivolous complaints

A 12-member delegation of the Congress had met the commission shortly after the Haryana Assembly election results were announced. The delegation claimed that during the counting of votes, a glaring discrepancy was discovered by the Congress candidates and their respective polling agents. This discrepancy was related to the battery charge, health, or capacity of the EVMs.

Congress allegation on EVM battery capacity

In a memorandum to the commission, the Congress said that as per its candidates, some EVMs used for counting were operating at 99% battery capacity, while other EVMs were operating at 60%-70% battery capacity.

In a point-by-point rebuttal to the charges, the commission said it had forwarded all 26 representations received from the Congress to the respective returning officers (ROs) who are the statutory authorities designated to conclude the electoral process, including counting, in a decentralised manner.

“It has been confirmed to this commission that all the 26 statutory authorities i.e. ROs have given a detailed constituency-wise response to respective INC candidates, containing annexures as documentary evidence. The Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, has also rejected the INC complaints,” it said.

“The returning officers have not found any evidence of any wrongdoing in any electoral processes. The replies reflect continuous participation of INC candidates, representatives and their agents in various processes of election, including EVM processes. Total 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 results and whether any complaint was made at any stage before declaration of result.”