The Election Commission on Tuesday rejected the Congress party’s allegations of irregularities in Haryana assembly polls and urged the grand old party to refrain from making “unfounded” claims after every election.
In a strongly-worded letter to the opposition party, the poll body accused it of making “baseless allegations” when faced with inconvenient electoral outcomes.
The commission further cautioned that irresponsible allegations, especially around sensitive times like polling and counting days, could lead to public unrest, turbulence, and chaos.
"Each step in the electoral process in Haryana was flawless and executed under the watch of Congress candidates or agents," it said.
READ - EC rules out EVM manipulation in Haryana, says no link between battery life and results
The poll panel’s 1,642 page letter contained point-by-point rebuttals to each of the Congress's complaints. It also detailed the continuous presence of authorized representatives of Congress candidates at all stages, including battery placement at the time of commissioning and throughout the polling and counting processes.
The Congress had alleged they had received complaints from Hisar, Mahendragarh and Panipat that there were EVMs with 99 per cent battery on which the BJP won while units with 60-70 per cent battery saw the Congress win.
The commission, however, dismissed any suggestion that battery levels could influence voting outcomes as preposterous. It said: "The battery status displayed on the Control Unit serves only to assist technical teams in monitoring power levels to ensure smooth operation during polling”.
READ - ‘A victory for manipulation’: Congress rejects Haryana election results
Soon after the Haryana election results were out, the Congress had alleged "glaring discrepancies" related to some EVMs and urged the EC to conduct a probe.
"There are doubts about vote counting as Haryana results are surprising. Everyone believed that the Congress would be forming the next government in Haryana. When the counting of postal ballots took place, the Congress was winning, but when the counting of EVMs started, the opposite happened," former chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda had said.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, while addressing a press conference earlier this month, had ruled out any possibility of manipulation of the EVMs in Haryana.
The CEC had also asked the returning officers to prepare detailed reports in response to the complaints filed by the Congress.