ECI rejects Congress' allegations on Haryana Assembly elections, cautions against making false claims on EVMs

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday 'categorically rejected' allegations of irregularities in Haryana elections raised by the Congress, asking it to conduct responsibly at sensitive electoral stages to “avoid possibilities of precipitation of public unrest and chaos”.

The poll body said the Congress has once again raised the “smoke of a generic doubt” about the credibility of the entire electoral outcome like it did on earlier occasions like during 2023 Karnataka elections and 2024 Lok Sabha polls. This is least expected of a national party, it said.

In an eight-page letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the EC “sincerely” urged the party to take “firm and concrete steps, matching with the party’s long and illustrious standing, to amend” their approach and responsibly conduct themselves at sensitive electoral stages so as “to avoid possibilities of precipitation of public unrest and chaos”.

Congress had submitted four petitions to the EC after Haryana elections about the “glaring discrepancy” in some Electronic Voting Machines and their batteries that it claimed could have impacted results in 26 constituencies.

Along with the EC’s centralised response, which is an exception in similar circumstances, the party has been provided with responses and annexures provided Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana and Returning Officers running into 1,642 pages to dismiss the allegations.

The EC response said the replies of the returning officers reflect continuous participation of Congress candidates and their agents in various processes of election, including the EVM process. Nineteen petitions do not even mention at what point in time the battery was showing 99% charge and how it had a bearing on the results.

“All complaints are too general, kind of one pager, as if candidates filed these under some ‘common’ direction,” the EC quoted the CEO report as saying.

The EC added, “...the display of 99% as battery status is being invoked to suggest a replacement of Control Unit surreptitiously – a total impossibility – as informed and explained by respective Returning Officers.”

While providing details of the EVM’s “carefully engineered hardware input”, the EC also said it is updating its FAQ on website regarding power packs on the system.

The EC also said a "noticeable and documented trend of picking up any ordinary aspect" of the EVM system for projecting it as a "new/fresh doubt" at national level is becoming evident, while the process related grievances are necessarily relatable to specific polling stations or constituencies.

This is being done, despite the fact that at each stage of pre-poll preparations pertaining to EVM system, a stakeholder participation of parties or candidates or their agents is provided and meticulously arranged, it said.

“...Once again the EC is compelled to note that with no evidence whatsoever of any statutory electoral step being compromised and candidate’s consent to proceed to each next stage being on record, the Congress has once again raised the smoke of a ‘generic’ doubt about the credibility of an entire electoral outcome exactly in similar manner as it has done in recent past. This is least expected of a national political party,” it said.

Urging the Congress to take “firm and concrete steps, matching with the party’s long and illustrious standing to amend” their approach, the said the party should “set an example for emulation by one and all to responsibly conduct themselves at sensitive electoral stages so as to avoid possibilities of precipitation of public unrest and chaos”.