'Spreading misinformation sign of ... ': EC sources reject Rahul Gandhi's claims on electoral rolls in Maharashtra
NEW DELHI: The
Election Commission
on Tuesday rejected
Rahul Gandhi
's allegations of abnormal voter turnout in the last two hours of
Maharashtra assembly polls
and said the Congress leader's "unsubstantiated allegations against the electoral rolls were an affront to the rule of law." Reacting strongly to the charges, the poll body asserted that any "misinformation" being spread was a sign of disrespect towards the law and hurt the efforts of political workers and polling personnel.
"After any unfavourable verdict by voters, trying to defame the Election Commission (EC) by saying that it had been compromised is completely absurd. The Indian National Congress' nominated candidates or their authorised agents did not raise any substantiated allegations with regard to any kind of abnormal voting at the time of scrutiny before the returning officer (RO) and the election observers on the next day," the EC sources told news agencies refuting the charges made by the Congress leader.
Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the diaspora in Boston in the United States, had alleged that the Election Commission (EC) in India was "compromised" and had claimed that "in simple terms, more people voted in the Maharashtra assembly elections than there were adults in the state."
"The Election Commission gave us a voting figure for 5:30 pm, and between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, 65 lakh voters voted. This is physically impossible to happen. For a voter to vote, it takes approximately three minutes, and if you do the math, it would mean that there were lines of voters till 2am, but this did not happen,' Rahul had said.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Halley's of Opulence: Ultra Luxury Residences in Tardeo From ₹ 8.99 Cr*+
MICL - Halleys Of Opulence
Book Now
"When we asked them for the videography, they not only refused but also changed the law so that now we are not allowed to ask for the videography,' he had claimed.
"It is very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, and it is very clear that there is something wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times,' he had said.
Rejecting Rahul's claims, the EC sources underlined that 6,40,87,588 (6.40 crore) electors who reached the polling stations from 7am to 6pm voted in the Maharashtra polls. About 58 lakh votes were polled per hour on an average, they said. Going by the average trend, nearly 1.16 crore voters could have voted in the last two hours, they added.
"Therefore, casting of 65 lakh votes by electors in two hours is much below the average hourly voting trend," an Election Commission (EC) functionary pointed out. The sources noted that voting progressed in the presence of polling agents formally appointed by candidates or political parties in every polling booth.
The BJP had reacted strongly to Rahul's charges and called him a "traitor." The party linked Rahul's criticism to the Enforcement Directorate's action in the National Herald case, alleging he had not only "insulted" the country's institutions on foreign soil but had also indulged in corruption, and said he and his mother will be "sent to jail" for "embezzlement".
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
BSP plans to increase its tally to 30, chalks out poll strategy
Nagpur: After BJP and Congress, it is the Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP ) that is a major player in the Nagpur civic body polls, even emerging the third-largest party in the 2017 polls. With 10 seats under its belt, BSP is now gearing up to increase the tally to 30 and has chalked out a strategy for the same. BSP leader Prakash Gajbhiye said, "A huge population resides in slums and lower-income areas within Nagpur city, and those in power have neglected this completely. I can show you so many places in Nagpur where there is no proper sewage system, no proper roads, and the water supply is also not regular. People have realised that BJP or Congress will never solve these problems; hence they will turn to BSP for that." The party has also worked out their targeted seats in the NMC assembly constituencies, highlighting their preparedness. Gajbhiye said, "Our maximum seats will come from North Nagpur, for which our target is 15. The next highest will be from South-West, where we hope to bag around seven seats. Then in the West and South, our target is three each. And for Central, it is two seats. Now, this is the minimum target, but we are confident of getting much more. " He added that BJP's strategy of regularisation of land and building pucca homes, which can help connect with voters, won't work in the polls. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo "This scheme, to provide housing for the poor, was started by Behenji (Mayawati), so BJP is simply doing a copy and paste of that formula," said Gajbhiye. Regarding Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), Gajbhiye said, "People now realise that VBA won't be able to have any impact on their lives. We have been representing Nagpurians' voices in the civic body for a long time, so we have a proven track record." Their ace up the sleeve is party chief Mayawati herself. "We are planning for two major rallies in Maharashtra. One will be in Mumbai and the other in Nagpur. If Behenji holds a rally, then the entire voting dynamic changes at one stroke," said Gajbhiye.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Setback for India: Jairam Ramesh after US general praises Pakistan's terror fight
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioned the Indian government on Wednesday over recent remarks by a top United States military official praising Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts. Taking to X, Ramesh wrote, 'Recently, the head of the US Central Command called Pakistan a 'great partner in the counter-terrorism campaign'. What will our Prime Minister and his ovation say to this? Is this not a diplomatic setback for India?'advertisementHis statement followed US Central Command chief General Michael Kurilla's testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, where the outgoing commander described Pakistan as a 'phenomenal partner' in counter-terrorism comments came at a time when India had been actively campaigning to expose Pakistan's support for cross-border terrorism, particularly after the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April. During the hearing, General Kurilla urged Washington not to adopt a zero-sum approach in South Asia, stating that the US must maintain strategic relations with both India and Pakistan."We need to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India. I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can't have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India,' he said. 'We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has.'advertisementKurilla's remarks came even as India stepped up diplomatic efforts to hold Pakistan accountable for its alleged role in the Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 people on April 22. In response, India carried out precision air strikes on terror infrastructure across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May military escalation ended on May 10 after the Directors General of Military Operations from both countries reached an officials, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, had reiterated that India would not accept any equivalence between victims of terrorism and the perpetrators. New Delhi also expressed concern over multiple international responses that appeared to hyphenate India and Pakistan during the brief military Kurilla, who is expected to retire later this summer, also spoke about Pakistan's role in combatting the Islamic State's regional affiliate, ISIS-Khorasan, also known as IS-KP. He acknowledged efforts by the Pakistani military and army chief General Asim Munir in countering the terror Watch
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Caste survey decision by Cong brass, not Karnataka government, says CM Siddaramaiah
BENGALURU: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah sought to clarify Wednesday that it was the Congress brass's decision and not his govt's to undertake a fresh caste survey, suggesting unease at the prospect of his core vote bank of minorities, backward classes and Dalits not taking kindly to re-enumeration after leaked data from the 2015 exercise showed a massive jump in their numbers. Siddaramaiah, under the pump for the June 4 stampede in Bengaluru in which 11 cricket fans died, told reporters at Gauribidanur in Chikkaballapur district that there were "some complaints" about the Kantharaj Commission's caste survey data. Won't reject 2015 census report: Siddaramaiah There were claims that the data was outdated, so some suggested a fresh enumeration within a relatively shorter timeline. We won't reject the (2015) report. We have already accepted it in principle," Siddaramaiah said. On whether he was disappointed with Congress's decision to go for fresh survey, he said, "We will act per the high command's directive. It's not our decision."Siddaramaiah and his deputy minister D K Shivakumar had been summoned to Delhi Tuesday for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, purportedly to explain state govt's failure to stem the outrage over the stampede sparked by an allegedly mismanaged victory parade for IPL-winning cricket franchise RCB. While Siddaramaiah appeared wary of owning the decision to enumerate caste demography afresh, Shivakumar batted on the front foot. He questioned why BJP was criticising the decision to conduct a new survey after refusing to accept data from previous one. "Why such opposition when we are trying to address concerns? We are not rejecting the Kantharaj Commission's report. We are only trying to correct the shortcomings of the earlier survey," DKS said.
