Haryana election result: Congress complains about counting of data after BJP takes dramatic lead in Haryana

The Election Commission on Tuesday rejected Congress's allegation that there was a slowdown in updating the counting data of the Haryana assembly elections on the poll body's website. The poll panel said the Congress' allegations were “irresponsible, baseless and uncorroborated malafide narratives”.

The poll body's comments came after Congress general secretary and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh alleged that uploading of current trends on the ECI website was being slowed down.

“There is no documentation to support your unsubstantiated claim of a slowdown in the update of results. Your memorandum also does not bring out any facts to the contrary regarding the delay in any of the constituencies in Haryana or J&K,” the poll body said in a note.

The congressional allegations came after The BJP dramatically outperformed its party's tally in the early trends of the Haryana assembly election Results on Tuesday.

Congress general secretary and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “As with the Lok Sabha elections, we are once again witnessing a slowdown in uploading trending news on the ECI website in Haryana. Is the BJP trying to put pressure on the government by sharing outdated and misleading trends.”

The ruling BJP has crossed the halfway mark of 45 in the Haryana assembly polls and is now leading in 48 seats, while the Congress was ahead in 33, according to the latest trends on the Election Commission website.

Ramesh also wrote to the Election Commission alleging “excessive and unacceptable delays in updating trends” in the Haryana Assembly election results.

Congress leader Pawan Khera also claimed that based on Election Commission data, there was a discrepancy between the number of rounds counted and the number of rounds shown on television.

“The Electoral Commission data is lagging behind, it still shows the fourth or fifth data found while 11 rounds were counted. Our general secretary, communications, tweeted to the Election Commission and asked, “We are trying to put pressure on the local administration by delaying voting.” “In J&K, you get live data where every round is counted, but it is in Haryana “That is not the case,” news agency ANI quoted Khera as saying.

Reacting to the Congress' allegation, BJP IT chief Amit Malviya told India Today TV, “The Congress has a habit of crying every time it loses. Earlier they blamed the EVM and now they blame the website (Election Commission). Why? Aren’t they looking at their own base?”

“You have to be graceful and accept that the people of Haryana voted for the BJP for the third time in history because of the good work done by the government during its tenure. Congress must accept that they are not the default option anymore in the country,” he added.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also mocked the Congress for its premature celebration. “At 8.30am to 9am, Pawan Khera distributed jalebis. At around 11.30 a.m., their spokespeople started criticizing the Election Commission, at 12 p.m. Jairam Ramesh started asking questions about the country's institutions and at 2 p.m. the Congress started questioning the Election Commission's intelligence information about the voters,” he said quoted by news agency ANI.