Haryana Election: The Congress on Friday hit out at the Election Commission for its “mediocre” response to the party’s complaint over alleged irregularities in the recently concluded Haryana Assembly elections. The party has particularly criticized the Election Commission for its language and the approach adopted by it.
The party, in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, said the Election Commission’s reply is nothing more than a generic set of bullet points on how the machines work rather than specific clarifications on our Haryana complaints. Our complaints were specific, the Election Commission’s response is generic and focused on a small number of complaints and petitioners. The Congress also hit out at the Election Commission for “giving itself a clean chit” and criticized the Election Commission for its “compassionate” response. The party accused the Commission of indirect bias, saying if the Election Commission’s aim is to remove the last vestiges of neutrality, then it is doing a remarkable job in creating this impression.
Congress’s sharp reaction comes after the Election Commission dismissed as “baseless” and “frivolous” the party’s allegations of irregularities in the Haryana Assembly elections. The Commission had stressed that it found no evidence to support Congress’s allegations, especially with regard to the allegation related to display of 99% battery status on electronic voting machines (EVMs) during counting of votes. The Election Commission had said such baseless allegations could incite public unrest and disrupt social order, urging political parties to avoid making sensational complaints during crucial election phases.
