EC counters Tejashwi’s claims: norms followed, recount in 1 seat as per process

Tejashwi asked on Thursday why many postal ballots had been declared invalid, claiming this was done without justification, especially in seats where Mahagathbandhan candidates lost by very narrow margins.

According to the data shared by the Bihar CEO, of the total 243 seats, only 11 — Hilsa, Barbigha, Ramgarh, Matihani, Bhorey, Dehri, Bachhwara, Chakai, Kurhani, Bakhri and Parbatta — saw a winning margin of less than 1,000 votes. Of these seats, four were won by the JD(U), three by the RJD, and one each by the BJP, CPI, LJP and an Independent candidate. In other words, the RJD lost in only two constituencies decided by less than 1,000 votes.

Narrow voting margins in constituencies.

Except for Hilsa, the winning margin in the 10 other seats was less than the rejected postal ballots (see box). While candidates of Ramgarh, Matihani, Bhorey, Dehri and Parbatta seats also sought a recount, their request was turned down by the RO since the victory margin was more than the rejected postal votes. A reasoned order was given by the RO in each case, the CEO said.

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On Tejashwi’s allegation of inordinate delay in handing over certificates to the winning candidates, Srinivas said, “At the end of EVM counting, five polling stations are randomly chosen and their VVPAT slips are verified with the EVM count. Counting of VVPAT slips is a tedious job and takes time. That apart, in some cases, the VVPAT slips had to also be tallied when the Control Unit did not display the result and where the polling officer forgot to delete the mock poll votes. So while according to the candidate the EVM rounds are over, the actual result declaration cannot happen till the VVPAT slips are tallied, and data of all polling stations is entered into the EC’s software. These reasons contribute to the time taken in handing over certificates to the winning candidates.”

At a press conference held Thursday evening, the CEO said, “We conformed to all the standards prescribed by us. The elections were free, fair, transparent and we video-graphed the procedure of counting.”

In Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora also addressed the allegations of irregularities, saying the Bihar CEO had responded to all the charges. He said the EC had held four press conferences on counting day alone to respond to various aspects of the process.

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“We do not respond to comments made by political entities. It is their decision, what they said, why they said. The ultimate decision lies with the people,” he said.

Responding to a query on the “slow pace of counting”, Arora said it was due to 33,000 more polling stations due to Covid-19, resulting in 63% additional EVMs.