Congress to ECI: Seal EVMs in 20 Haryana constituencies

A day after its unexpected defeat in the Haryana Assembly elections, a delegation of senior Congress leaders — including K.C. Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Ajay Maken — met with officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Delhi.

The Congress party has raised concerns about alleged irregularities in the counting process and demanded that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in 20 constituencies be sealed.

The meeting took place following doubts expressed by several Congress leaders over the counting process in multiple constituencies. the memorandum submitted by Congress before the ECI says:

‘As per the INC candidates, some EVMs used for counting on 08.10.2024 were operating at 99 per cent battery capacity, while other EVMs were operating at 60–70 per cent battery capacity. In fact, in some cases, this discrepancy was discovered in EVMs used in the same polling station.

‘Immediately upon discovery, the INC candidates raised this issue before the concerned Returning Officers. However, in a majority of the places, there was no response received in this regard.’

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had been one of those who voiced his concern early on about tampering and delays during vote counting.

After the meeting with the ECI, he said, "All surveys indicated that Congress was set to form the government in Haryana, yet the final outcome was shocking. There have been numerous complaints from different districts regarding EVM tampering and delayed counting. We have formally raised these issues with the Election Commission."

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera addressed the media, stating that the party had requested the ECI to seal the EVMs in the constituencies where they had filed complaints.

"We will be submitting more complaints over the next 48 hours," Khera said.

He added that the party had already submitted documents detailing alleged irregularities in 20 constituencies and was in the process of gathering data for 13 more. These documents will also be shared with the media, he assured.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission had acknowledged the Congress' concerns in a letter addressed to party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The letter referenced statements made by Congress leaders — including one from Rahul Gandhi, who had called the election results "unexpected" and expressed the party's intention to analyse the outcome. The ECI, citing Gandhi's statements, agreed to meet with the Congress delegation.

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi hinted at the party’s plans to approach the Election Commission, citing complaints from several Assembly constituencies.

‘We are analysing the unexpected result of Haryana. We will inform the Election Commission about the complaints we’ve received. Heartfelt thanks to the people of Haryana for their support and to our party workers for their tireless efforts. We will continue to fight for rights, social and economic justice, and truth,’ Gandhi wrote.

Defying exit poll predictions, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a victory in the Haryana Assembly elections, winning 48 of the 90 seats.

Despite strong anti-incumbency sentiment after 10 years of BJP rule, Congress managed to secure only 37 seats, falling short of expectations.

The Congress party now awaits a formal response from the Election Commission regarding its demands, as it continues to gather evidence for further complaints.