EC writes strong worded letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge over EVM tampering allegation in Haryana

The Election Commission of India (EC) on Wednesday hit back at the Congress in a strong letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge. This comes after the Congress had on Tuesday alleged that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in recently-concluded Haryana assembly elections were tampered. The party had also termed the results as "unacceptable".

The EC said that the remark of party leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh were "far from a legitimate part of free speech and expression".

In a post-result press conference, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Ramesh said some candidates had noticed that on EVMs that had 99% battery charge, the party had lost, while those with a charge of 60-70% showed a victory for the Congress.



The party had said that it would not accept the results, alleging a “conspiracy” through “manipulation” of EVMs.

The EC wrote to Kharge in a sharp reply saying, "Such an unprecedented statement as above in a generic sense, unheard in the rich democratic heritage of the country, is far from a legitimate part of free speech & expression and moves towards an undemocratic rejection of the will of the people expressed in accordance with the Statutory and Regulatory electoral framework, uniformly applied across all elections in the country including J&K and Haryana."

The election body also noted the Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, who mentioned that the Congress has proposed to analyse the and approach the EC with its complaints/grievances. It said it will meet the party delegation of 12 members, including Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, at 6 pm on Wednesday to address the issues.

"Proceeding on a fair assumption that the statement of the party president is the formal party position on the electoral outcome, the ECI has agreed to meet the delegation today at 6 pm," the letter said.


Congress lost the Haryana elections, results for which were announced on Tuesday. The party won 37 of the 90 assembly seats, while BJP won a majority by fighting anti-incumbency and secured historic third term in the state with 48 seats.

Congress, however, rejected the election mandate, claiming that the EVMs were tampered with. This marks the first instance of a major political party in India refusing to accept the election results on such grounds.

The allegation was made amidst internal turmoil within the party's Haryana unit. Senior leaders Kumari Selja and Bhupinder Singh Hooda acknowledged their 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," expressing his astonishment at the outcome. The Congress party's stance has raised eyebrows and sparked a debate about the credibility of the electoral process in India.