Congress’s allegations are false and baseless, Commission’s reply on complaint of rigging in Haryana elections

New Delhi. The Election Commission on Tuesday termed the allegations of irregularities leveled by the Congress in the Haryana Assembly elections as “baseless, unfounded and beyond facts”. The Commission warned the Congress party to refrain from making such “baseless allegations” election after election. In a letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, the Commission warned that such “false narratives” near the polling or counting of votes could create instability in the situation.

The Commission said that the Congress party is raising the same kind of doubts about the credibility of the entire election results as it did in the past. In the letter, the Commission said, “This is not expected from any national political party. The Commission sincerely appreciates the well-thought-out approach of political parties in maintaining and strengthening electoral democracy in the country and assures that it will remain committed to timely grievance redressal.”

The Commission said that it was “once again” compelled to mention that despite there being “no evidence” of any legitimate electoral measure being compromised, the Congress is raising the same doubts about the credibility of the election results as it has done in the past.

At the same time, the letter said that the Election Commission urges the Congress to take concrete steps in line with the party’s long and illustrious reputation to change its approach. The Commission said that such “frivolous and unfounded” doubts have the potential to create trouble in a situation when an important process like polling and counting is going on.

The Congress had complained to the Election Commission that the counting process in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections was slow on the counting day on October 8. The Congress also sought clarity on why the battery status of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) control unit was shown as 99% in some polling stations. This situation was observed at some places in 26 assembly constituencies of Haryana.

The Election Commission, citing examples from the past one year, accused the Congress of repeatedly raising unfounded doubts on important aspects of the Indian electoral process. The Commission said that such “unwarranted” and “baseless doubts” have the potential to create instability at crucial times of the electoral process, such as polling and counting. The Commission also said that it is committed to timely resolution of complaints. The Election Commission concluded its letter by writing that the views of national political parties help in strengthening democracy, but such an attitude of the Congress is “not expected from it as a national party.”