’Gave clean chit to itself’: Congress slams Election Commission for ‘condescending non-reply’ to Haryana poll complaints

Senior Congress leaders slammed the Election Commission on Friday for its “condescending” response to complaints about the recently concluded Haryana polls. The party claimed that the poll body had “given a clean chit to itself” and shared a “generic non-reply” that primarily focused on diminishing the complaints and petitioners.

“We have carefully studied your response to our complaints. Not surprisingly, the ECI has given a clean chit to itself…If the current ECI’s goal is to strip itself of the last vestiges of neutrality, then it is doing a remarkable job at creating that impression,” the party said in its letter.

The Opposition party said it had been compelled to write a counter-response due to the “the tone and tenor” of the ECI message as well as “the language used and the allegations made against the INC”.

The Congress also claimed that, despite filing over a hundred complaints against the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, the ECI has taken action on none, while holding Congress’s president and former president to account for their actions or speeches. Several senior Congress leaders also lambasted the poll body for its response.

“ECI gave a non-reply to Congress’ specific complaints in 20 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Haryana,” said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.

“If the Prime Minister thinks of himself as God, his CEC will obviously think of himself as God’s gift to mankind,” jibed senior Congress leader Pawan Khera.

The Election Commission had penned a strongly worded missive rejecting the Congress allegations as “baseless, misplaced, and devoid of facts” earlier this week. The ECI said that such “frivolous and unfounded” doubts have the potential of creating “turbulence” when crucial steps like polling and counting are in live play — a time when both public and political parties’ anxiousness is peaking.

(With inputs from agencies)