New Delhi: Days after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge raised questions on the delay of releasing voter turnout in an apparent criticism of the Election Commission, the poll panel on Friday in a surprising move shot off a letter to Kharge saying your comments appear to "create confusion".
“The Commission fully respects the right to free speech and considers it the privilege of political parties and their leaders to correspond and communicate with each other. However, the Commission has a responsibility to act against developments, which directly impact the delivery of its core mandate of conduct of elections in its entirety till delivery of results,” the ECI said in its letter.
The poll panel termed Kharge's statements as "aggression on vitals of live election operations." It further denounced the Congress President's "baseless allegations" regarding releasing voter turnout data during the ongoing polls.
The poll panel categorically refuted Kharge's contentions, dismissing them as insinuations and innuendos lacking any factual basis and asserted that there have been no lapses or deviations in the collection and dissemination of voter turnout data.
“The Commission has found your communication placed in the 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, which is the mandate of ECI under the constitution,” the letter said.
“Therefore, 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
Such unfounded claims, according to the poll panel are designed to sow confusion, misdirection and impediments in the conduct of free and fair elections, it said. It is pertinent to note here that Kharge earlier this week wrote to INDIA bloc leaders wondering whether the poll panel's refusal to publish actual voting data, delay in releasing poll turnout data and non-publication of the final voters’ list for the next phases are an "attempt to doctor" the Lok Sabha election results.
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