'Ill-founded allegations...': ECI on Congress's 'slow poll data' update charge
What's the story
The Election Commission of India (EC) has rejected the Congress's allegations of a delay in updating Haryana assembly election results on its website.
In a letter to Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, the ECI said that the counting process is being conducted transparently and there is no evidence to support these claims.
The commission also noted that roughly 25 rounds across all constituencies are updated every five minutes, showing a swift dissemination of the counting process.
Accusations made
Congress alleges discrepancy in election results update
Earlier in the day, Ramesh posted on X (formerly Twitter), "Like the Lok Sabha elections, in Haryana we are again witnessing slowing down of uploading up-to-date trends on the ECI website."
He raised concerns, questioning whether this was an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to influence administration by sharing outdated and misleading trends.
Rebuttal issued
EC rejects Congress's allegations, defends update speed
Responding to the Congress's allegations, the EC Isaid there was no evidence to back their claims of a slowdown in updating results.
The commission also noted the party's memorandum didn't present any contrary facts about delays at any constituencies in Haryana or Jammu and Kashmir.
It further added that it "unequivocally rejects your attempt to surreptitiously give credence to irresponsible, unfounded and uncorroborated malafide narratives."
Election results
BJP set to form government in Haryana, Congress trails
Going by the data on the ECI website, the BJP is all set to form the government in Haryana for the third consecutive time, leading on 50 out of 90 seats.
The Congress is leading on 35 seats.
However, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was confident that "Congress is going to form the government with a huge margin."
Separately, the BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi saw these complaints as Congress's admission of defeat.