In letter to allies, Mallikarjun Kharge questions ECI's poll data and functioning
Opposition INDIA bloc leaders collectively taking up the issue of the functioning of the Election Commission of India vis-a-vis the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday wrote to the bloc leaders, drawing their attention to the «usual delay» by ECI in updating final voters' turnout of the first and second phases of polling. Stressing on the need for the INDIA bloc leaders to take up EC-related matters unitedly, Kharge also questioned the ECI data on the registered voters' list. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has sent a letter to the Election Commission of India raising the same points.
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Maintaining that «the credibility of the Election Commission of India is at an all-time low», Kharge said: «It is in public domain on how ECI, perhaps for the first time in history, delayed the release of the final voting percentages of the first and second phases of the Lok Sabha elections. Additionally, it is extremely disconcerting to know, through various media reports, that even the final registered voters' list from the third phase onwards is also not released. All these developments cast a dark shadow on the functioning of the Election Commission of India».
Kharge demanded answers from ECI on «the data (voters' turnout) released 11 days after the first phase of polling (April 19, 2024) and four days after the second phase (April 26, 2024)… Why has the commission failed to issue any clarification to justify the delay?.. Is there an issue with the EVMs?...» Trinamool Congress has also raised the same demands in its letter to ECI.
