Congress fact-finding panel’s interim report on Haryana defeat says ‘mismatch in EVMs and votes’

Congress leader Karan Singh Dalal file photo Photo Credit: Akhilesh Kumar

The head of the Congress fact-finding committee, which went into the details of the party’s defeat in the Haryana assembly elections, released an interim report on Monday (December 23, 2024) alleging irregularities in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) during counting. did

“Before the elections, every survey was in favor of the Congress, the atmosphere in the state was in favor of the Congress. But the result was the opposite,’ Karan Singh Dalal, head of the eight-member committee and a senior party leader, told reporters here.

Mr. Dalal also trained the ruling BJP to shoot guns for “misusing” the government machinery in its favour.

BJP returns to power for third consecutive term with 48 seats; Congress won 37.

Dalal alleged, “Despite the EVM’s battery being charged to 99 percent, Congress registered it and the counting of votes was delayed.”

“Detailed analysis shows mismatch of EVM votes in different booths. Other serious indicators are the increase in votes in areas where the BJP won by a slim margin after the elections and the increase in EVM votes by 10.52% and 11.48% in Panchkula district and Charkhi-Dadri district respectively,” he alleged.

“All these signs point to some serious manipulation,” he said. “…The conduct of the Election Commission of India is not above board and lacks transparency. Its approach is lacking,” Mr. Dalal said.

After the results came out, the Congress made many allegations, but the Election Commission rejected the allegations of ‘irregularities’ in the election. It said the party was, as in the past, raising “general suspicions” about the credibility of the overall election results.

Dalal added, “The extreme discrepancy in the voting data and the fact that it was provided immediately after the polling and a day later indicates that the Election Commission did not comply with its legal obligations.” The fact is that either the EVMs were tampered with or the EVMs were altered/replaced, which makes the entire exercise unreliable/suspicious.” He questioned why the Commission’s website did not have the data on how many votes the candidates cast and only the vote percentage.