Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | 'Attempt to push biased narrative': EC counters Mallikarjun Kharge's charges

The Election Commission of India on Friday accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge of creating impediments in the conduct of free and fair elections as it rejected his allegations of mismanagement and delay in publishing the voter turnout data.

In its five-page response with annexures, the Commission termed Kharge's allegations as "unwarranted", "without facts" and "reflective of a biased and deliberate attempt to spread confusion".

The Commission condemned Kharge's statement in which he wondered whether the delay in releasing voter turnout data was an "attempt to manipulate the final results"

Earlier this week, the Congress chief in his letter to the I.N.D.I.A leaders raised questions about the final voter turnout, alleging that it exceeded the initial estimations for the first day, citing similar instances from the 2019 elections.

Highlighting the delay in releasing the final voting percentages in the initial phases of the Lok Sabha polls, Kharge said such delays cast doubts on the credibility of the data provided by the poll panel. Kharge also sought clarification from the Commission regarding the reasons for the delay. 

The Congress chief had also expressed apprehensions about potential attempts to manipulate the final results, alleging that the ruling party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP might resort to extreme measures to maintain power. He had also shared the letter on X and said the “credibility of the Election Commission” was at an "all-time low".

The poll panel said it found Kharge's letter placed in the public domain in the middle of the ongoing electoral process "highly undesirable" and "designed to create confusion, misdirection and impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections".

"Through innuendos and insinuations, the contents of the post, tend to create disharmony in respect of the delicate space of election management, can plant doubts in the minds of voters and political parties and potentially created an anarchic situation, when you said 'could this be an attempt to doctor the final results?' which this Commission hopes you do not have any intention of," the EC said in its letter to Kharge.

The Commission highlighted Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala’s claims during the Karnataka Assembly elections that the electronic voting machines (EVM) used in the polls were previously deployed in South Africa.

“A trend of irresponsible statements attacking or attempting to degrade the credibility of the elections in terms of men and material by a national political party is disconcerting,” the poll panel said.