Congress Terms EC Response to Kharge Letter on Voter Turnout Data 'Deeply Regrettable'

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who strongly objected to the EC response, said that their party president Mallikharjun Kharge had raised "perfectly legitimate" issues in his letter. Ramesh termed the approach of the EC in addressing the issues raised by Kharge is "deeply regrettable".

New Delhi : Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday termed as "deeply regrettable" the response of the Election Commission of India to the letter of the grand old party's national chief Mallikarjun Kharge in his letter to the leaders of the opposition parties on the delay in sharing voter turnout data.

Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said that 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. He further said that Kharge had raised "perfectly legitimate" issues on which there have been widespread concerns and comments.

Taking strong objection to the EC response, Ramesh said, "Both the content and intent of the letter (EC's) 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 approach of the Election Commission to addressing these issues is deeply regrettable."

Jairam Ramesh, who is in-charge of the Communications Department of the AICC, sharply reacted to the EC, which described Kharge's letter as an attempt at spreading "a biased narrative" under the guise of seeking clarifications. Ramesh said the commission's response to Kharge was "simply beyond description".

Earlier on Friday, the poll panel dashed off a letter to Mallikarjun Kharge, terming his comments on voter turnout data in his letter as an "aggression on vitals of live election operations." The EC also rejected the Congress chief's statements as "baseless" and lacking in any factual basis. The poll panel had also said that Kharge's observations in the middle of the ongoing election appear to be designed to impede the smooth conduct of the elections.

Meanwhile, former Union Minister P Chidambaram asked why ECI should think that it should be spared when RBI, CAG and other institutions cane be criticised.

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