ECI Refutes Congress Charges, Invites Party on Tuesday for Reviewing Maharashtra Elections

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Nov 30: The Election Commission of India on Saturday refuted all the allegations made by the Congress of “grave inaccuracies” in the Maharashtra state Assembly elections data and asserted that a transparent process had been followed in conducting the elections.

The commission, however, invited the Congress for a meeting on December 3 to review all their legitimate concerns. The Congress had on Friday raised “serious and grave inconsistencies” which it said were being revealed in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently-concluded Assembly elections.

The Congress’ chief allegations pertained to “Arbitrary deletion of voters and subsequent addition of over 10,000 voters in each constituency from the final voter lists” and “inexplicable increase in voting percentages from 5 pm to the final voter percentage declared by the EC at 11:30 pm on the day of polling.” In an “urgent memorandum” submitted to the commission, the party also urged it to grant an “urgent in-person hearing” to raise all its issues in detail.

In its interim response to the Congress complaint, the poll body reiterated that a transparent process was followed with involvement of candidates and their agents at every stage. The commission though still assured the party of further review of all its legitimate concerns.

Regarding voter turnout data issue raised by the party, the ECI asserted that there was no discrepancy in the data which is available with all candidates polling station wise and is verifiable. The gap in 5 p.m. polling data and the final voter turnout are due to procedural priorities as presiding officers perform multiple statutory duties near close of poll before updating voter turnout data, it said.

The ECI said as an additional disclosure measure, the commission’s press note at around 11:45 PM was introduced during the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year and has been followed in all subsequent Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has urged the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to crack the whip as defeats in both Haryana and Maharashtra have prompted calls for introspection and decisive action for course correction in the Congress party.

Addressing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Friday, Mr Kharge issued a warning against infighting and anti-party remarks, stating that “tough decisions” were inevitable to fix accountability and identify the party’s shortcomings after poll debacles.

The CWC resolution described the Haryana results as “contrary to all expectations,” alleging that electoral malpractices had influenced the outcome. Panel members are set to visit both states to conduct post-mortems on the defeats.

“Unless we fight elections unitedly and stop making statements against each other, how will we be able to defeat our opponents politically?” Mr Kharge asked at the CWC meeting. Mr Gandhi, agreeing with Mr Kharge, urged the party chief to “crack the whip” and that the Congress was an “organisation of resistance” and party leaders should have faith in it.

Mr Kharge also announced plans for comprehensive state-wise reviews to address organisational weaknesses and assess the losses in Maharashtra and Haryana. Internal committees are being constituted to visit Maharashtra and Haryana to speak to local leaders. The CWC resolution raised serious concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission, alleging that free and fair elections-a cornerstone of democracy – were under threat.

“There is no reason to get disheartened or to panic. We must persevere with renewed determination and resolve. Unity and discipline are called for now more than ever before,” the CWC resolution read. “The party must keep reinforcing its narrative. This includes caste census to ensure full social justice, removal of the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs, control of growing monopolies in the economy through political patronage and continuing price rise and growing unemployment.”

The Congress also announced plans for a nationwide movement in collaboration with INDIA bloc parties to address concerns over the electoral process. Jairam Ramesh, the party’s general secretary in charge of communications, stated that rallies would soon be organised to mobilise public support.

The BJP on Saturday took a dig at the Congress again questioning EVM’s integrity, saying all the chief ministers and other elected representatives from the grand old party like Rahul Gandhi should first resign and declare that they will contest only after the ballot papers are brought back. “Such a stand will underscore their trust in the issues being raised by them,” BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.

According to Bhatia, the party’s allegations will otherwise be “nothing but empty words.” He also asked the Congress to move to the courts over the issue, while stressing that the Supreme Court has already given a clean chit to the Election Commission over the transparency of the electoral process and the integrity of Electoral Voting Machines many times in recent years.

“Congress chief ministers, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should resign as they were elected through the same electoral process the opposition party is questioning,” Bhatia said.

The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar also alleged discrepancies in votes polled through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS) in Maharashtra assembly elections, but added that his party does not have any proof in this regard.

“There is some difference in the votes of EVMs but at the moment I do not have any proof in this regard. Some people have demanded recounting. Whatever is possible in this matter will be done. Some people have applied for recounting. Let’s see what happens in that but I do not have much hope from this,” he said.