Complaint on turnout ‘our EVM moment’, had to respond, says EC official

On Friday, in a response uncharacteristic of the poll watchdog, the Commission had termed Kharge’s allegations as “blatant inaccuracies”. It even went so far as to say that his letter bordered “on vitiating the constitutionally mandated work” of the EC. The Congress President’s communication to leaders of INDIA bloc allies, which was posted on his X handle on Monday, had questioned the “delay” in releasing turnout data and suggested it was an attempt to “doctor” the Lok Sabha result.

When asked why the EC’s unusual reply was so framed, a senior officer in the commission said: “This was our EVM moment of 2019. That year, a joint delegation of political parties had met with the Commission and questioned the accuracy of EVMs. The Commission has always exercised restraint in its response to controversies and allegations, even if they are baseless. That (EVM) narrative was not challenged strongly by the Commission, and it haunts us to this day.”

“If you look at the content of his (Kharge’s) letter, it’s an assault on the vitals of the electoral process. If we had not countered this false narrative on voter turnout data strongly, it would have become the agenda for the next several years. This was our only opportunity to make a strong intervention to prevent that from happening all over again,” the EC officer added.

The Congress president’s concerns over the final turnout data stemmed from the perceived delay by the Commission in releasing the final figures. The poll panel officially released the final data for the first phase of polling on April 19 and for the second phase on April 26, on April 30. However, these figures were not very different from those reported by newspapers, including The Indian Express, which were based on unofficial confirmations from senior EC officers.

“The very premise that voter turnout data was released late is devoid of facts as it has always been available on the Voter Turnout app… Needless to add that polling station-wise data of electors and voters is given to agents of the candidate on the day of poll itself at close of poll,” the EC had said in its Friday letter to Kharge.

It said the records showed that no Congress candidate had raised concerns over turnout at the close of the poll and that the EC is under no statutory obligation to publicly publish aggregate data.

Kharge’s letter written on Saturday stated: “I am also puzzled by the need to write that the ‘Commission is not legally bound to publish any voter turnout data at aggregate level of a constituency or state’, though it is factual. I am sure many voters of our country would be surprised too. Many voters who are deeply interested in the elections would also like to see the absolute number of votes polled to be put out in the public domain by the Commission directly.”

“The letter on one hand says (the) Commission respects citizens’ right to ask questions and on the other hand threatens citizens in the form of an advice to exercise caution,” Kharge further said in his reply on Saturday.

“I am happy that the Commission understands that it has the mandate to conduct smooth, free and fair elections under the constitution. However, the lack of urgency shown by the Commission in taking action against blatantly communal and casteist statements being made by the leaders of the ruling party that vitiates the electoral process seems puzzling,” the letter states.

Kharge also said that he is “disappointed that the Commission did not quote another line from the letter which said ‘it should be our collective endeavour to safeguard Democracy and protect the independent functioning of the ECI’”.

“To make it more clear, the Congress party is on the side of the Commission and stands for the strength and independence of the Commission. The officials of the Commission should now decide where they stand,” the Congress president wrote.