Haryana has sprung a surprise… a big jolt rather for Congress. The Grand Old Party was leading in the state Assembly elections when counting started this morning. But a few hours later, in a big U-turn, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was in the lead.
The saffron party is now poised for a hat-trick in the state. And Congress is not taking it well. For starters, it has already complained to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
What is Congress’ complaint?
The Congress has filed a formal complaint with the poll body regarding the delay in publishing the leads and results of the Haryana Assembly election, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said.
The party alleged that data for the Hindi heartland state is not being uploaded as quickly as it is for the Jammu and Kashmir.
“We are lodging a complaint (and) hope the EC will answer our questions. The results of 10-11 rounds are out… but only four to five rounds are updated on the site,” Ramesh told news agency ANI.
He wrote to ECI alleging “inordinate and unacceptable delay in updating trends” in the Haryana Assembly election results.
The Congress leader also wrote about it on X. “Like the Lok Sabha elections, in Haryana, we are again witnessing slowing down of uploading up-to-date trends on the ECI website. Is the BJP trying to build pressure on administration by sharing outdated and misleading trends,” he wrote on X.
According to Congress’ Pawan Khera, there was a mismatch in the number of rounds counted and the number of rounds shown on television through the ECI data.
“The Election Commission data is lagging behind, they are still showing fourth or the fifth found data while 11 rounds have been counted. Our General Secretary Communications has tweeted to the Election Commission asking – are trying to put pressure on the local administration by delaying the display and uploading of data. In J&K you are getting live data with every round counted but in Haryana, it is not so,” Khera told ANI.
Has the ECI reacted?
Sources in the poll body told News18 that the allegations were baseless and that the trends were being updated on the website constantly.
What is the BJP saying?
The BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya told India Today TV, “The Congress has this habit of crying every time they lose. Earlier they would blame the EVM and now they are blaming the (Election Commission) website. Why don’t they look at their own rank and file?”
He added that the party should be “graceful and accept that the people of Haryana have voted for a third historic time for the BJP…”
What are the numbers saying now?
The BJP is heading for a historic hat-trick in the state. This will be the first time a party will form a government three consecutive times in Haryana.
According to the ECI data, BJP is leading in 49 and has one win in 90 seats. Congress is leading in 34 seats and has bagged one so far. To stake claim to form a government, a party needs 45 seats.
What did exit polls predict?
Exit polls had projected a clear majority for Congress.
The C-Voter-India Today exit polls said that the Congress would win 50 to 58 seats and the BJP 20 to 28 seats, while Dainik Bhaskar predicted the Congress would get 44 to 54 seats and the BJP 15 to 29 seats in the 90-member Haryana Assembly.
According to Republic Bharat-Matrize polls, the Congress would bag 55 to 62 seats and the BJP would 18 to 24.
The Peoples’ Pulse exit poll gave the Congress 49 to 60 seats and the BJP 20 to 32 seats in Haryana.
With inputs from agencies
Link to article –
Sour grapes? Why Congress is questioning ECI over ‘slow upload’ of Haryana results data
