The Congress on Tuesday said it cannot accept the Haryana Assembly polls verdict as there were "serious issues" about the integrity of the counting process and functioning of the EVMs in some districts, and asserted that it would take up the matter with the Election Commission.
In first reaction after the Assembly election results, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hailed his party-led Opposition bloc INDIA's win in J&K as the "victory of Constitution" and doubted the outcome of Haryana polls, in which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defied exit poll predictions and hit the majority mark alone.
Rahul Gandhi said he will apprise the Election Commission about complaints coming from various assembly constituencies in Haryana and called the poll results "unexpected". On Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also echoed similar thoughts on the Haryana election outcome.
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Addressing Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge's concerns, Election Commission on Wednesday wrote to the latter, saying it has "noted the statements from him and the Leader of Opposition which have termed the Haryana results as "unexpected" and that the INC proposes to analyse the same and approach the ECI with its complaints/grievances."
"Proceeding on a fair assumption that the statement of the Party President is the formal party position on the electoral outcome, the ECI has agreed to meet the delegation today at 6 PM," read the letter by EC.
After the meeting, Congress leader Pawan Khera told PTI that the party informed the Election Commission of India (ECI) about 20 complaints, including seven written ones from seven constituencies. He further stated that Ajay Maken and Abhishek Manu Singhvi urged the ECI to seal the EVMs involved in the complaints until the investigation is concluded.
Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda also expressed surprise over the Haryana election results, stating that it was widely expected that Congress would form the government, with various agencies predicting a Congress victory. He pointed out that Congress was initially leading during the postal ballot count, but began trailing once the EVM counting started, which has raised suspicions.
The Congress on Tuesday said it cannot accept the Haryana Assembly polls verdict as there were "serious issues" about the integrity of the counting process and functioning of the EVMs in some districts, and asserted that it would take up the matter with the Election Commission.
Alleging a conspiracy, the opposition party said that in Haryana "democracy had lost and establishment had won".
BJP bagged 48 seats in the Haryana Assembly election, two more than the required majority mark, while Congress came second with 37 wins.
In Haryana, exit polls had predicted a return of Congress, which was expected to bag around 55 of the 90 seats alone. The BJP has been in power in Haryana since 2014 with Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister for over nine years. The BJP's second term in office in 2019 was in alliance with the JJP, with Dushyant Singh Chautala as deputy chief minister.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in Delhi along with AICC media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Serious questions have been raised by our candidates. We will bring it to the notice of the Election Commission."
"What we have seen today in Haryana is a victory of manipulation and subverting the will of the people. It is a defeat of transparent, democratic processes. The chapter on Haryana is not complete, it will continue," he said.
Ramesh said the results in Haryana are "totally unexpected, completely surprising and counter-intuitive". They go against ground reality, against what the people of Haryana had made their mind up for which was for change and transformation, he added.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the result of Haryana was unexpected and the party is assessing the public mandate.
"After talking to our ground workers, getting complete information and checking the facts, a detailed response will come from the party," he said.
EVM Allegations
Pawan Khera alleged that complaints had been received from Hisar, Mahendragarh and Panipat that there were electronic voting machines (EVMs) with 99 per cent battery on which the BJP won while units with 60-70 per cent battery saw the Congress win.
"Have you understood this conspiracy, where there was 99 per cent battery in EVMs, BJP wins where there is less than 70 pc battery, Congress wins. if this is not a conspiracy, then what is it?" Ramesh said, adding that the complaints were from 12 to 14 seats as of now.
Jairam Ramesh said the reason why the Congress is not accepting the results is because not only it is surprising and unexpected but there are serious issues with the integrity of the counting process and the functioning of the EVMs in at least three to four districts in which about 12 to 14 constituencies are involved, he said.
"EC is our first stop. It is a constitutional body, it is an independent body, we expect it to function constitutionally and independently," Ramesh said.
"There are serious questions about the instruments of the system, namely the EVMs and also the extraordinary pressure on local administration officials. It is a double engine pressure of the state government and the Centre.
"There was an environment in which people have lost by 200 votes, 300 votes, 50 votes, people who had healthy leading margins have ended up losing by 100-200 votes. This can be explained only by manipulation and pressure," news agency PTI quoted Ramesh as saying.