The Election Commission on Friday pulled up Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and rejected his allegation of discrepancies in voting data released for the first and second phase of Lok Sabha polls.

The poll panel also advised him to exercise caution and refrain from making any such statements.

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On Tuesday, Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, wrote a letter to the leaders of INDIA parties, alleging discrepancies in the voting data released by ECI and non-publishing of registered voters.

In a strongly-worded letter to the Congress president, the ECI said, “The very premise that voter turnout data was released late is devoid of facts as it has always been available on the Voter turnout app. The Commission outrightly rejects the allegation of the so-called glaring mismanagement. The allegations made by you are unwarranted and reflective of a biased and deliberate attempt to spread confusion on credibility of the electoral steps as they unfold in the conduct of elections.”

“As a senior parliamentarian, a very seasoned politician, with experience of 52 years in electoral politics and electoral processes, and as the head of a prominent national political party, you must be aware that ECI follows the most transparent process of preparation of electoral roll and well designed and well tested participation of the political parties/candidates at every stage of the process, and thus the fact that all political parties know number of electors at every stage repeat at every stage of the election process,” it said.

The poll panel pointed out that utterances from president of a national political party “attacking the very credibility of the electoral steps and processes can have a negative impact on voter participation and can be seen as a means to deter an elector from exercising their franchise and/or demoralising the huge number of election staff and machinery which is mainly drawn from the respective state governments.”

The ECI said it has found his communication placed in public domain in the middle of the ongoing election process as “highly undesirable and one that appears designed to create confusion / misdirection / impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections.”

“To uphold the integrity of the election process, in the face of an aggression on the vitals of live conduct of election coming from your statements, the Commission categorically rejects your insinuations/ allegations and advises you to exercise caution and refrain in making such statements,” it added.

Reacting to the ECI’s letter, Congress general secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, “The response of the ECI to the issues raised by the Congress president in his letter to the INDIA parties is simply beyond description.

“The EC is a Constitutional body entrusted with the responsibility of being an impartial body that ensures, and is seen to ensure, a level-playing field to all political parties. Both the content and intent of the letter will be a permanent blot on the reputation of an institution that can boast of luminaries like Sukumar Sen, TN Seshan, JM Lyngdoh and others.

“The Congress president had raised perfectly legitimate issues, on which there have been widespread concern and comment. The approach of the EC to addressing these issues is deeply regrettable,” he said.