If goal is to strip itself of neutrality, it is doing remarkable job: Congress slams Election Commission

Congress criticizes EC's condescending tone, threatens legal action over poll panel's response to allegations of irregularities in Haryana elections.

The Congress on Friday (November 1, 2024) hit out at the Election Commission (EC) after it rejected allegations over irregularities in the Haryana assembly polls, saying if the poll panel's goal is to "strip itself of the last vestiges of neutrality", then it is doing a "remarkable job" at creating that impression.

The Opposition party claimed that the EC's reply was written in a tone that is condescending and warned that if the poll panel persists with such language then it would have no choice but to seek legal recourse to expunge such remarks.

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The Congress's response came days after the EC rejected allegations levelled by it over irregularities in the just-held assembly polls, saying the party was raising "the smoke of a generic doubt" about the credibility of an entire electoral outcome like it did in the past.

In its letter to the EC signed by nine senior Congress leaders, including general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, the party said, "We have carefully studied your response to our complaints. Not surprisingly, the ECI has given a clean chit to itself. We would normally have let it be at that. However, the tone and tenor of the ECI's response, the language used, and the allegations made against the INC compel us to submit the counter-response."

"We do not know who is advising or guiding the Hon'ble Commission, but it seems that the Commission has forgotten that it is a body set up under the Constitution and charged with the discharge of certain crucial functions - both administrative and quasijudicial," the response by the Congress leaders said.

Posting the reply on X, Congress general secretary Mr. Ramesh said, "ECI gave a non-reply to Congress' specific complaints in 20 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Haryana."