Baseless, why no objections filed: EC on Rahul Gandhi's allegations regarding 'vote theft' in Haryana

The Election Commission on Wednesday termed the allegations levelled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding "vote theft" in the 2024 Assembly elections in Haryana baseless. It countered him by asking why the booth-level agents (BLAs), who are appointed by political parties to oversee voting and flag irregularities, did not raise objections during the electoral roll revision to avoid multiple names.

Rejecting the charges, EC sources said no appeals were filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana.

The poll body's reaction came after Rahul, a day ahead of the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, claimed that he had "100 per cent" proof that around 25 lakh voters in Haryana were either duplicate, non-existent or manipulated.

Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Haryana shared some "facts" regarding the Assembly elections held in October 2024.

In a post on X, the Haryana CEO said the draft electoral rolls were shared with the recognised parties on August 2, 2024, and a substantial number of claims and objections were filed during the summary revision in which more than 20,000 booth-level officers were involved.

After the final rolls were distributed on August 27, 2024, no appeals or second appeals were filed against the decision, the CEO added.

The EC sources further sought to know from the Congress leader whether he supports the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which removes duplicate, dead and shifted voters along with verification of citizenship, or he opposes it?