'Excuses...': BJP mocks Congress's 'slowdown' complaint to ECI
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has rubbished the Congress's complaint to the Election Commission about an "unexplained slowdown" in vote counting as mere excuses.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi refuted these claims, saying they were factually incorrect and the Congress's own counting agents were present at the booths.
He said these allegations were a desperate attempt by the Congress to justify its looming defeat.
Election update
BJP anticipates historic mandate in Haryana
Trivedi, a Rajya Sabha MP, was confident about BJP's performance saying "the trends are in a positive direction."
He predicted a historic mandate for his party in Haryana and an unprecedented performance in Jammu and Kashmir.
The latest election results show BJP leading with three wins and 45 leads in Haryana, while Congress won three and is leading in 37 constituencies.
Allegations surfaced
Congress alleges delay in Election Commission's data update
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised concerns over a "slowdown" in the Election Commission of India's data update in Haryana.
He questioned if this was a tactic by the BJP to exert pressure through "outdated and misleading" trends.
Ramesh announced they were lodging a complaint and expressed hope for a response from the ECI. He drew parallels with the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, where he alleged similar tactics were employed.
EC's response
ECI denies delay in data update
Responding to Ramesh's allegations, sources from the ECI told ANI that there was no delay in updating trends or results on their website.
They clarified that "results are being updated every 5 minutes."
Early trends in the Haryana Assembly elections showed a neck-and-neck contest between the BJP and Congress. However, later, the BJP upset the Congress's gains, securing a comfortable majority.