‘Unprecedented statement’: EC’s sharp response to Kharge on Congress’ Haryana results in ‘unacceptable’ comment | India News – Times of India

The Election Commission of India (EC) on Wednesday wrote a strongly worded letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge over the party’s allegations regarding the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Haryana and cited the comment of the party leaders “the results unacceptable”. Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh “far from a legitimate part of freedom of speech and expression”.
Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, while dismissing the Haryana Assembly election results as ‘unacceptable’, alleged that there was tampering in the EVM. % battery charge had lost the party, while those with 60-70% charge showed a victory for the Congress. The party on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of declaring that it will not accept the verdict, alleging that a “conspiracy” had emerged through “manipulation” of EVMs.
In a sharp response, the EC wrote to Kharge: “Such an unprecedented statement as above in a generic sense, unheard of in the country’s rich democratic heritage, is far from a legitimate part of freedom of speech and expression and moves towards of an undemocratic situation. rejection of the will of the people expressed in accordance with the legal and regulatory electoral framework, which is uniformly applied in all elections in the country, including J&K and Haryana.
Considering the statements of Kharge and Rahul Gandhi mentioning that the Congress has proposed to analyze the EC and approach the EC with its complaints/grievances, the poll panel said it has asked the party’s delegation of 12 members, including Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, will meet on Wednesday at 6:00 PM to address the issues.
In Haryana electionsthe results of which were declared on Tuesday, the Congress lost the plot to the BJP by getting only 37 of the 90 seats in Parliament. The BJP, on the other hand, managed to fight anti-incumbency and won a historic third term in the state with 48 seats.

However, Congress took an unprecedented step by rejecting the election mandate and claiming that the EVMs had been tampered with. This is the first example of a major political party in India refusing to accept election results on such grounds. The accusation was made amid internal unrest within the party’s Haryana unit, where senior leaders Kumari Selja and Bhupinder Singh Hooda admitted defeat.
Selja pointed fingers at the Hooda faction for the party’s poor performance in the state. Meanwhile, Hooda stated that he would accept the results “under protest”, and expressed surprise at the outcome. The Congress Party’s stand has raised eyebrows and sparked a debate on the credibility of India’s electoral process.