As the Opposition intensifies its suspicion over the ‘delayed’ release of voter turnout after each phase of polling in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, leaders of the INDI Alliance will meet the Election Commission on Friday to seek answers over the matter.
The Opposition has been raising eyebrows over the release of voter turnout data, accusing the polling body of delaying publishing the numbers.
The data for Phase 1 of the Lok Sabha polls which were held on April 19 was released on April 30 while the numbers for the second phase which took place on April 26 were also released on the same day.
Meanwhile, the voter turnout for the third phase (May 7) of the elections was released yesterday (May 9).
‘Is there a problem with EVMs?’
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday wrote a letter to the EC highlighting “voting data discrepancies.”
The grand old party’s chief wrote on X, “On 30th April 2024, the Election Commission released the final voter turnout data for the first 2 phases of elections for the 2024 Lok Sabha. The data was released 11 days after the first phase of polling (19th April 2024) and 4 days after the Second Phase (26th April 2024). In this regard our first question for the Election Commission is – Why did the Commission delay the release of voter turnout data?”
He added that earlier, the polling body used to release the data within 24 hours of voting and said that EC has failed to justify itself despite being questioned by Opposition leaders and political activists.
“Is there an issue with the EVMs?” Kharge asked.
EC’s clarification
Amid the opposition’s allegations, the poll body had asserted that booth-wise data of the “actual number of votes polled” is available to the candidates soon after the voting ends.
In a statement issued last week, the EC also said it attaches “due importance” to the timely release of voter turnout figures after each phase of the poll, and said not just constituency, but booth-wise data of the actual number of votes polled is available with the candidates, which is a statutory requirement.
The EC officially shared the turnout figure for the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls on April 30. According to EC figures, a voter turnout of 66.14 per cent was recorded in phase one and 66.71 per cent in phase two of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
For the third phase of voting that took place on Tuesday, the EC’s voter turnout app on Wednesday showed that 65.55 per cent of voting had occurred.
Other issues
While voter turnout data will remain the focal point of the meeting, INDI Alliance leaders including those from Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC) and CPI(M), will also raise the issue of the alleged “use of religious symbols” by the BJP in its campaign.
Various opposition parties have also approached the poll panel over speeches made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders during poll campaigns, alleging that the Model Code of Conduct had been violated.
Based on the complaints made by opposition parties as well as the BJP, the poll panel had earlier issued notices to BJP president JP Nadda and Congress president Kharge over alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct by leaders from their parties.
With inputs from PTI
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INDI alliance seeks urgent meet with EC, here’s what they want to discuss
