Mallikarjun Kharge's letter on voter turnout data draws ECI's ire: 'Highly undesirable'

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. (PTI File Photo)

In a strong-worded letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday expressed deep concern over his recent statement questioning the integrity of the electoral process. The letter admonished Kharge for his attack on the credibility of the electoral processes, which the poll body deemed as potentially detrimental to voter participation.

“Commission fully respects the right to free speech and considers it to be the privilege of political parties and their leaders to correspond and communicate with each other. However, the Commission has a responsibility to act against developments which have a direct impact on delivery of its core mandate of conduct of elections in its entirety till delivery of results,” the ECI said.

On Tuesday, Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the leaders of various parties of the opposition INDIA bloc, questioning the alleged discrepancies in the voting data released by the Election Commission. Kharge urged the INDIA bloc leaders to raise their voice against such alleged discrepancies, for “our only objective is to protect the culture of a vibrant democracy and the Constitution”.

Several opposition parties have raised questions about the delay in releasing the polling data by the EC.

Sharing his letter on X, Kharge said, “My letter to the leaders of INDIA parties, regarding the discrepancies in the voting data released by Election Commission of India and non-publishing of registered voters.”

Kharge’s letter to leaders of the INDIA bloc was deemed highly undesirable by the ECI. Terming the Congress president’s assertions as an “aggression on vitals of live election operations,” the Election Commission asserted that such baseless allegations are aimed at sowing confusion and disrupting the smooth conduct of the electoral process.

The Commission categorically refuted Kharge’s contentions, dismissing them as insinuations and innuendos lacking any factual basis. It asserted that there have been no lapses or deviations in the collection and dissemination of voter turnout data, providing detailed point-by-point rebuttals to refute Kharge’s claims.

“Commission has found your communication placed in public domain in the middle of the ongoing election process as highly undesirable and one that appears designed to create confusion / misdirection / impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections which is the mandate of ECI under the constitution,” the letter said.

“Therefore, to uphold the integrity of the election process, in the face of an aggression on the vitals of live conduct of election coming from your statements, Commission categorically rejects your insinuations/ allegations and advises you to exercise caution and refrain in making such statements,” it added.

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