MORE THAN two-and-a-half months after the Haryana Assembly election results were declared, a Congress fact-finding committee set up to probe its unexpected rout released an “interim report” Monday blaming the BJP and Election Commission.
Headed by former minister Karan Singh Dalal, the eight-member panel said the BJP and EC had colluded in “hacking EVMs in at least 27 constituencies” and “misusing official machinery” to rig the polls.
According to Dalal, “The BJP did not hack EVMs in entire Haryana but only in urban constituencies. In rural areas, people generally know which party the others have voted for. It is only in urban areas that the political choices of people are not known exactly.”
Earlier, soon after the results, the Congress had forwarded a list of 20 Assembly seats to the EC where it had alleged irregularities in counting of votes; the BJP had won 18 of these. The Indian Express had reported that the list included a constituency the Congress had not won in 30 years (Narnaul); former BJP chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s seat (Karnal); a constituency from where Congress heavyweight Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s close aide Udai Bhan lost by under 3,000 votes (Hodal); and a constituency won by the BJP by just 32 votes, the minimum victory margin this time (Uchana Kalan).
The EC had rejected the Congress’s allegations then, saying it had “cast a smoke of generic doubt over the electoral process”.
However, the Congress repeated its charges Monday, including its suspicions over “EVM batteries showing 99% power at the end of day of polling”. Dalal said: “The EVM is like a calculator, and its battery discharges on use. However, the EC is saying these batteries are unique, which gain power upon use.”
He questioned why the EC website does not have figures on the total number of votes polled by candidates, and only the vote percentage. Till 7 pm on polling day, the poll percentage was 61.19% and total votes polled 1.24 crore, he said, with the EC later revising the polling percentage to 65.65% at 11.45 pm, and to 67.9% BY WHAT morning. “But the EC did not give the exact number of votes.”
Dalal also questioned the increase in votes for the BJP in the overall tally. “There are 2.03 crore registered voters in Haryana. As per the EC, the total turnout was 67.90%, that means total votes polled were 1.38 crore. If the BJP’s vote share was 39.94%, they should have got 55.19 lakh votes. But the EC website shows the BJP got 55.48 lakh votes… This means more votes were polled and the Congress would have also got more votes. But there is no increase in Congress vote share, affecting the party in at least eight-nine constituencies that we lost,” he said.
Claiming misuse of government machinery, he said police “threatened” people and filed “false criminal cases”. “We filed RTIs, but nothing (no footage) was given to us. Now, they have even changed the rule and will not supply this CCTV footage.”
Dalal also questioned the wide gap in the BJP’s winning margins. “In 44 constituencies, of which the BJP won 37, their strike rate was 84.9%. In 46, the BJP won 11 with a strike rate of 23.91%. How could there be such a stark difference?”
The Congress leader suggested that the problem started with appointments in BEL and ECIL – the companies that manufacture EVMs. “BJP and RSS workers are appointed in these companies. The Rajkot BJP president was appointed as BEL’s director. How can these EVMs be fair?”
Dalal also asked why, in certain EVMs, Independents were on top in the candidate list. “It is a clear violation of the EC’s own guidelines.”
Pointing out that the party had filed as many as 19 election petitions, the Congress leader said the party will come out with another report in about two months. “In it we shall be naming government officials including police officers who misused their official position and helped the BJP”.
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