- By Abhishek Sheoran
- Thu, 10 Oct 2024 04:02 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Senior Congress leader and party’s prominent face in Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said the Election Commission (EC) has assured them to look into complaints raised by them during vote counting in the state. This came after a Congress panel submitted a memorandum before the top poll panel, asserting that their polling agents discovered several discrepancies in several seats. The grand old party named seven seats-- Karnal, Rewari, Panipat City, Hodal, Kalka and Narnaul-- where they believed ‘irregularities’ had taken place.
The Congress party sought the ‘faulty’ EVMs be sealed until a comprehensive investigation takes place. "We have received many complaints. The counting of votes was delayed in several places. The Election Commission has assured us that they are looking into all the complaints," Bhupinder Hooda said, as per the ANI.
Congress’ Poor Show In Haryana
The Congress party garnered 37 of 90 seats in Haryana, a number much less than what pollsters and psephologists predicted, amid a decade-long anti-incumbency and agrarian distress in the state. Defying all the conjectures, the BJP accumulated 48 seats to form a majority government. The fight seemed neck-and-neck in the opening trends but the entire scenario changed after an hour of counting.
Bigwigs of the grand old party, including former chief Rahul Gandhi, said the party was analysing the ‘unexpected’ result and the EC would be apprised about the complaints coming from several constituencies.
Congress Flags EVM Discrepancies
The Congress has rebuked the result of the Haryana Assembly election, expressing "serious concerns" regarding the reliability of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Congress’ General Secretary Jairam Ramesh highlighted discrepancies observed by some candidates in the machines during counting. According to him, in cases where EVM showed a battery life of 99 per cent, the party faced defeat, while those with a battery level between 60-70 per cent resulted in victories for Congress.
Congress To Form Fact-Finding Committee
The Congress Party will form a fact-finding committee over alleged EVM discrepancies reported by their booth agents, ANI reported. Senior party leaders, including Bhupinder Hooda, Ashok Gehlot, Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Maken, met EC officials to raise their complaints. The party said more complaints will be submitted before the poll panel in the next 48 hours.
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Senior party leader Ashok Gehlot said the mood of the public was clearly in Congress’ favour, thus the party was taking this loss seriously.