"Issues in entire election machinery, raised questions" Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday alleged that during the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, there were issues in the entire election machinery, which he said is "dangerous for democracy". He said that the Congress had raised questions on these issues.
Speaking to ANI, Jairam Ramesh termed the results of the Maharashtra elections "impossible."
"The Election Commission has given us time and Congress leaders will meet them. The memorandum that we gave is related to the election process. EVM is a part of the election process. There are issues in the entire election machinery in the Maharashtra assembly elections and targeted manipulation has taken place...The results of the Maharashtra assembly elections are impossible. No one can understand them...We have raised questions on the entire election machinery which is very dangerous for democracy," Jairam Ramesh said.
"The parties of the INDIA alliance passed a resolution in December 2023 that 100 per cent counting of VVPAT slips should then be done...I have sought time from the Election Commission of India to discuss the issue of VVPATs but we did not get time from them," the Congress leader said.
On Saturday, the Election Commission invited a Congress delegation to meet it on December 3 over its apprehensions concerning the voting percentage in Maharashtra elections. Congress had also raised some apprehensions about the EVM process after the Haryana assembly polls.
The poll panel has said it will review all legitimate concerns of Congress and provide written response after hearing the party's delegation.
The Election Commission of India (ECI), in its interim response to Congress, reaffirmed that there is a transparent process with the involvement of candidates or their agents at every stage.
Responding to the issue raised by Congress regarding voter turnout data, EC asserted that there is no discrepancy in voter turnout data which is available with all candidates polling station-wise and is verifiable.
"The gap in 5 PM polling data and final voter turnout is due to procedural priorities, as presiding officers perform multiple statutory duties near the close of the poll before updating voter turnout data. As an additional disclosure measure, ECI press note, at around 11:45 pm, was thus introduced during the 2024 General Elections and followed subsequently during all assembly elections thereafter," the poll panel said.
Congress on Friday alleged that the "integrity of the entire electoral process is being severely compromised" and slammed the Election Commission.
The issue was discussed at the Congress Working Committee meeting and the party said it will launch a "national movement."
The opposition has raised questions over EVMs, mentioning the rise in voting percentage in the Maharashtra polls.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi - comprising the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Sharad Pawar and the Congress - won just 46 seats.
The BJP emerged as the biggest winner with 132 seats in the Maharashtra assembly while its allies--the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20 and the results were declared on November 23.