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The Congress party in India has raised serious allegations of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) fraud in the recent Haryana assembly elections, claiming irregularities in the vote-counting process in 13 constituencies. This comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a third consecutive victory in the state elections, a result that has been met with skepticism by the Congress. The party initially alleged irregularities in seven assembly seats, but a subsequent memorandum submitted to the Election Commission of India expanded the list to 13.
The memorandum, submitted by the Congress leadership team headed by Mallikarjun Kharge, focuses on specific claims of irregularities during the counting process. Among the 13 seats in question, the BJP won 12, with the remaining seat going to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). In 11 of these seats, the contest was directly between the BJP and Congress, while the remaining two seats saw competition between the INLD and Congress, and the BJP and an Independent candidate, respectively.
One of the key allegations centers around the EVM control units. Congress candidate Varinder Kumar from Panipat claimed that many control units displayed a 99% battery level during the counting process, raising concerns about potential tampering. Kumar also alleges that his election agents were denied access to copies of Form 17C, which records the number of votes cast at each polling station, during the counting process. This denial, according to Kumar, hindered the ability of agents to verify the vote count and led to suspicions of manipulation. This accusation of EVM tampering, although disputed by the BJP, adds fuel to the long-standing debate surrounding the reliability of electronic voting machines in India.
The Congress's allegations are based on the belief that the BJP's overwhelming victory in Haryana might have been influenced by irregularities in the vote-counting process. The party has demanded a thorough investigation into the matter and has requested the Election Commission to review the counting procedures at the 13 seats in question. The Election Commission is expected to respond to the Congress's memorandum and may launch an inquiry into the allegations. The outcome of this investigation will be crucial in determining whether the BJP's victory was indeed legitimate or if there were any irregularities that compromised the fairness of the elections. This case highlights the importance of ensuring transparency and accountability in electoral processes and underscores the need for robust mechanisms to address allegations of electoral fraud.
Source: Congress's EVMs fraud charge at BJP: 13 Haryana seats under team Kharge's radar