New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has dismissed allegations of large-scale voter fraud in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections, following claims by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi that 25 lakh bogus votes were cast to favour the ruling BJP.
Gandhi, unveiling what he called the “H-Bomb”, accused the ECI of “stealing votes” and claimed that one in every eight voters in Haryana was fake, a figure amounting to 12.5% of the electorate in a state with around two crore voters. He alleged that exit polls had predicted a Congress victory, but the BJP retained power through rigging, duplicate entries, and “bulk voting”.
In response, ECI sources said the Congress party had not filed any objections or appeals during the electoral roll revision process. “What were the Congress polling agents doing inside polling stations?” a senior official asked, adding that polling agents are expected to raise objections if a voter’s identity is in doubt or if they suspect impersonation.
According to the ECI, Congress Booth Level Agents (BLAs) did not submit any claims regarding duplicate, shifted, or deceased voters during the revision period. “Why were no claims and objections raised by INC’s BLAs to prevent multiple entries?” the sources questioned, noting that the party also failed to file appeals at the appropriate stage.
The Commission further pointed out that only 22 election petitions are currently pending across various High Courts for Haryana’s 90 Assembly seats, a figure it described as typical for a state election of this scale.
ECI officials also challenged Gandhi’s assertion that fake voters benefited the BJP, asking, “How does Rahul Gandhi know who these alleged fake voters cast their vote for?”
The sources criticised Gandhi’s stance on the Statewide Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which is designed to clean up electoral rolls by removing duplicate, dead, and migrated voters. “Is he supporting SIR to remove such entries or opposing it?” they asked.
Gandhi had released what he termed the “H-Files”, including videos alleging irregularities in voter lists, such as multiple voter IDs with the same photograph but different names. He also shared a clip of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini allegedly stating that “arrangements” had been made ahead of the results, a remark Gandhi claimed suggested electoral manipulation.
“The Election Commission can remove duplicates in a second. Why don’t they do it? Because they are helping the BJP,” Gandhi alleged.
(Inputs from IANS)