NEW DELHI: In an unusual move, the Election Commission (EC) on Friday responded to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s letter to fellow INDIA bloc leaders earlier this week that was also posted on X, “rejecting” his allegations that the EC had delayed releasing final voter turnout numbers for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections.
“Utterances from President of National Political Party attacking the very credibility of the electoral steps and processes can have a negative impact on voter participation and can be seen as a means to deter an elector from exercising their franchise and/or demoralising the huge number of election staff and machinery which is mainly drawn from the respective State Governments…Commission wishes you to appreciate that your comments/observations/allegations given in the aforesaid post borders on vitiating the constitutionally mandated work of ECI,” the EC wrote in its response.
Kharge’s letter, which was posted on his X handle on Monday, asked whether the “delay” in releasing the number of voters was an attempt to “doctor” the results. He had expressed concern over the EC releasing turnout figures for phase one and phase two after 11 days and four days, respectively.
The EC’s response, which was uploaded on its website on Friday, refuted the allegations and advised Kharge to exercise caution in the future. “The very premise that voter turnout data was released late is devoid of facts as it has always been available on the Voter Turnout app…Needless to add that polling station wise data of electors and voters is given to agent of the candidate on the day of poll itself at close of poll,” the EC said. It added that the records showed that no Congress candidate had raised concerns at the close of polls.
Agencies