Election Commission failed to act impartially, says ex-Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda

Chandigarh: Former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Hooda alleged on Friday that the Election Commission has failed to act impartially as the BJP formed the government in the state through vote theft.

He said revelations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have made it clear that the BJP and the Election Commission have jointly disrespected the mandate. Responding to media queries here, Congress legislator Hooda said the voter list was so flawed that, in addition to the Brazilian model, 223 votes were registered for a single woman at one booth. “The photographs of 122,000 voters were found to be fake.”

“When the media itself investigated after Rahul Gandhi’s revelations, all the allegations were found to be true. Votes were registered for 501 people in a 300-yard house owned by a BJP leader, even though only seven people live there.” “Showing photographs, Rahul Gandhi explained that some people have registered their votes in both Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and they are close to the BJP,” Hooda said.

He said irregularities detected in the voter list have shaken public confidence in the Election Commission. “Therefore, the Congress party has resolved to protect democracy and will take every possible step to do so.” He said after the voting on October 5, 2024, the Election Commission reported a total voter turnout of 61.19 per cent in Haryana.

“On October 6, this figure was increased to 65.65 per cent, and on October 7, the figure was revised again to 65.9 per cent. Will the Election Commission answer how the vote count was increasing automatically for three consecutive days? How did the counting of votes cast through EVMs take such a long time in this era of fast internet and telecom revolution?” he questioned. “That is why, as soon as the election results were announced, we immediately went to the Election Commission and filed a complaint. We have repeatedly appealed for elections to be held using ballot papers, as everyone saw that Congress was winning 73 seats in the postal ballot count, but was reduced to 37 seats in the EVM count. The results of the last five elections show that the party that wins the postal ballot count forms the government,” Hooda claimed.

He said today the Congress is not just talking about Haryana, but about the entire country, the Constitution, and democracy.

“If the Election Commission does not act impartially, people’s democratic rights will be nullified. However, Congress will not allow the people’s democratic rights to be violated. Therefore, protests will be held across the state against vote theft. The party is preparing a blueprint for this,” he added.

IANS