The Election Commission of India (EC) on Wednesday wrote a strong-worded letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on party’s allegations regarding the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in recently-concluded Haryana assembly elections and termed the “results unacceptable” remark of party leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh “far from a legitimate part of free speech and expression”.
Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, while rejecting Haryana assembly election results as “unacceptable”, had alleged EVM tampering.In a post-result press conference, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said some candidates had noticed that on EVMs that had 99% battery charge, the party had lost, while those with a charge of 60-70% showed a victory for the Congress. The party on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of declaring that it will not accept the verdict, alleging there was a “conspiracy” hatched through “manipulation” of EVMs.
In a sharp reply, the EC wrote to Kharge saying: “Such an unprecedented statement as above in a generic sense, unheard in the rich democratic heritage of the country, is far from a legitimate part of free speech & expression and moves towards an undemocratic rejection of the will of the people expressed in accordance with the Statutory and Regulatory electoral framework, uniformly applied across all elections in the country including J&K and Haryana.”
Noting the statements of Kharge and Rahul Gandhi who mentioned that the Congress has proposed to analyse the and approach the EC with its complaints/grievances, the poll panel said it will meet the party delegation of 12 members, including Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, at 6 pm on Wednesday to address the issues.
In Haryana elections, the results of which were announced on Tuesday, Congress lost the plot to BJP by getting only 37 of 90 assembly seats. BJP, on the other hand, managed to fight anti-incumbency and secured historic third term in the state with 48 seats.
Congress, however, made an unprecedented move by rejecting the election mandate, claiming that the EVMs were tampered with. This marks the first instance of a major political party in India refusing to accept the election results on such grounds. The allegation was made amidst internal turmoil within the party’s Haryana unit, where senior leaders Kumari Selja and Bhupinder Singh Hooda acknowledged their defeat.
Selja pointed fingers at the Hooda faction for the party’s poor performance in the state. Meanwhile, Hooda stated that he would accept the results “under protest,” expressing his astonishment at the outcome. The Congress party’s stance has raised eyebrows and sparked a debate about the credibility of the electoral process in India.