ECI trashes Rahul’s allegations

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday trashed Rahul Gandhi’s renewed allegations of vote manipulation in Haryana, questioning why Congress did not flag voters during the revision process to prevent multiple entries.

“Why were no claims and objections raised by the Congress?” The Congress leader’s claims are unfounded, as no appeals were filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana, nor was any multiple voting flagged when it happened,” the ECI sources said, countering Rahul’s allegation. Booth-level agents, or BLAs, are appointed by political parties to flag irregularities, if any, in electoral rolls. “After the voter list was finalised, a copy of it was given to all parties. Why were the issues of duplicate names not flagged? Why was no appeal made?” the sources added.

The sharp rebuttal came after Rahul Gandhi’s claim that 25 lakh entries were “fake” and that the Haryana Assembly Polls last year were “stolen.”  

A day before the polling for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly polls, Rahul alleged a Brazilian female model cast 22 votes from 10 booths in Haryana. The Congress MPs’ renewed vote theft allegations came a day after the EC launched SIR exercises in nine states and three union territories aimed at updating voter lists and verifying the eligibility of around 51 crore electors. Several parties have, however, objected to the exercise, alleging that it was politically motivated.

“Only 22 election petitions are currently pending in the High Court against 90 Assembly seats in Haryana. An election petition can be filed within 45 days of the announcement of the results in the High Court of that state. What were the polling agents of Congress doing in the polling stations? They are supposed to object if the elector has already voted or if the polling agents doubt the identity of the elector. That’s the established procedure under the law,” the poll body said.

The Commission also asked whether Rahul supports or opposes the SIR (Systematic Information Revision) process, which removes duplicate, deceased, or shifted voters while verifying citizenship, or whether he opposes the exercise. Responding to the allegations, the poll body clarified that no appeals had been filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana.

The EC sources pointed out that Rahul’s assertion that duplicates voted for the BJP contradicts official records, which show that many of these votes went to the Congress itself. They also clarified that “House Number Zero” applies to areas where municipalities or panchayats have not assigned house numbers, and questioned why no appeals were filed during Bihar’s SIR process from 1 August to 15 October. They said Rahul has raised the issue of the Rai and Hodal assembly seats in Haryana.

Soon after Rahul’s press conference, the chief electoral officer of Haryana shared some “facts” regarding the Haryana assembly elections held in October 2024, CEO Haryana, in a social media post on X, said that draft electoral rolls were shared with recognized political parties on August 2, 2024, and after a substantial number of claims and objections during the summary revision, more than 20,000 booth-level officers were involved.

After the final rolls were distributed on August 27, 2024, there were no appeals or second appeals filed against the decision, the CEO added. Meanwhile, the poll body also claimed that only five complaints or objections were raised and no objections were recorded during the post-poll scrutiny. After the election results were declared on October 8, 2024, so far, 23 election petitions have been filed challenging the results, highlighting an active post-election process and engagement with the electoral procedures.

The BJP won 48 seats in the 2024 Haryana Assembly Polls, while the Congress, which was predicted to win by many exit polls, won 37 seats. The INLD won two seats, while independent candidates bagged three in the 90-member Assembly.