Haryana: Congress alleges manipulation, rejects assembly poll results

Calling the Haryana assembly election results a “victory of manipulations, and subverting the will of people," Congress on Oct 8 raised “serious questions” about the integrity of the instruments of the democratic system and said it will not accept the result as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a historic third term in the state, winning 48 seats, as per the Election Commission website.

The win halted a Congress comeback in the state even after a decade. Congress won 37 seats, Independents 3 and the Indian National Lok Dal bagged 2 seats. Contrary to the exit polls which showed Congress winning the elections, the actual results led to a third consecutive win for the BJP.

Addressing media persons, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that there were “serious issues” with the counting process and the functioning of the EVMs in at least 14 constituencies and that the party would take up the matter with the Election Commission.

“We have received very serious complaints on the process of counting, and the functioning of EVMs in at least three districts. We have spoken to our senior colleagues in Haryana. This information is being collected, and we hope to present this in a consolidated form to the Election Commission," he told reporters.

"All afternoon, I have been in touch with the Election Commission. The Election Commission has replied to my complaint, I've replied to the reply,” he added.

Ramesh said the results in Haryana are unexpected, surprising and counter-intuitive. "It goes against ground reality," he added.
"This is a victory of subversion of people's will and subversion of the democratic process," he said.

Earlier in the day, Ramesh wrote to the Election Commission, alleging slowing down of uploading up-to-date trends on the poll panel's website. In response, the poll panel said the Congress's allegations were "irresponsible, unfounded and uncorroborated malafide narratives".

Notably, Congress gained the lead in the early trends, leading to celebrations in the party offices in Delhi and Chandigarh. However, the BJP came back as the counting progressed, and gained a decisive lead.

"The results in Haryana are completely unexpected and unacceptable. We are receiving many complaints from Hisar, Mahendragarh, and Panipat about discrepancies in EVMs. Our candidates have filed complaints to the Returning Officer, but we will take all these complaints to the Election Commission," Congress leader Pawan Khera said.

Contrary to the exit polls which showed Congress winning the elections, the actual results led to a third consecutive win for the BJP.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his heartiest congratulations to all party workers and supporters. "My heartiest congratulations to all my party workers who have worked tirelessly and with full dedication for this great victory! You have not only served the people of the state to the fullest but have also taken our agenda of development to them. This is the result of which BJP has got this historic victory in Haryana." Modi posted on X.

"I salute the people of Haryana for giving a clear majority to the Bharatiya Janata Party once again. This is the victory of the politics of development and good governance. I assure the people here that we will leave no stone unturned to fulfil their aspirations."

Commenting on the BJP victory in Haryana, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, "A bad loser always quarrels with his instrument. See what happens in the coming time inside the Congress because of the divisive politics they started.”

“They have a mentor who lives outside who said India is not one country, those from the Northeast are Chinese. Today, they got the answer from the people of Haryana in a completely correct manner. Right now they are in denial, they will understand completely." he said in a statement.

Responding to a question about the Jammu and Kashmir election results, Ramesh said, "The chapter on Haryana is not complete, it will continue. There will be a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, of course.”

“As I said till yesterday, various attempts were being made to ensure that the majority will not come to the Congress-NC coalition but the people of Jammu and Kashmir have given a very clear mandate for this coalition government," he added.