The Election Commission of India (ECI) dismissed as “baseless” allegations by the Indian National Congress challenging the result of the Haryana assembly elections, in which the BJP secured a historic third consecutive victory.

In a strong response to Congressional claims on alleged wrongdoings in certain election processes, the ECI on Tuesday said that the Congress has once again cast a “smoke of generic doubt” over the electoral process in a manner similar to its previous actions.

The ECI’s rejection came in response to a series of grievances filed by the Congress, which raised suspicions of tampering with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in 26 of the total 90 assembly constituencies. Among Congress’ allegations were concerns about tampering, citing EVMs showing 99% battery health during the counting process, which Congress argued could indicate possible tampering. The party also accused the ECI of deliberately slowing down the counting process and questioned the transparency and security of EVM management.

“The commission categorically rejects all allegations and baseless apprehensions raised by the Indian National Congress on all aspects of the electoral process in the recently concluded Haryana state assembly elections,” the ECI said in an eight-page letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. .

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“The Commission would also like to recall that in retrospect, the INC has persistently raised unfounded doubts about the basic aspects of the Indian electoral process with a visible pattern of timing and approach,” it said.

The ECI urged Congress to take a more constructive approach given its historical status and avoid sowing doubt without evidence. The ECI argued that such “unfounded and ill-founded doubts” risk disrupting crucial phases of the election, especially as public and political anxieties peak around voting and counting.

Addressing specific allegations regarding EVM battery levels, the ECI noted that it usually refrains from responding to constituency-specific grievances, but stressed its duty to protect the integrity of the decentralized electoral scheme. It slammed the Congress for circulating “false stories without any evidence” close to election day, a practice the ECI said could dangerously inflame public sentiment.

“It is needless to remind that such unfounded and frivolous doubts have the potential to create turbulence when crucial steps such as voting and counting are at stake, a time when the anxiety of both the public and political parties is at its peak . Communications carrying baseless allegations were often widely publicized by the INC even before any official letter was received in the ECI and mostly coincided with the peak of the election cycle i.e. close to or on polling day or counting day,” said THIS IS IT.

The ECI also highlighted instances of “baseless” allegations by the Congress, circulated through social media, such as a claim on June 2, 2024, just two days before the counting day of the last Lok Sabha elections, that the “outgoing home minister” was putting pressure on the district magistrates. . “Despite ECI’s request to provide details of such 150 DMs along with factual matrix/base, it was never provided,” ECI said.

In its letter, the ECI emphasized that the recent actions of the Congress have no evidence of statutory irregularities, stressing that the consent of each candidate to go through each electoral stage is recorded. “Once again, Congress has raised the smoke of a ‘generic’ doubt about the credibility of an entire election result, just like it has done in the recent past… This is the least expected of a national political party,” ECI . he stated.

The ECI asked the Congress to take concrete steps to demonstrate responsible conduct in line with the party’s long heritage.