EC to verify EVMs in Rania amid allegations of irregularities

The Election Commission has announced that it will conduct checking and verification (C&V) of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in the Rania Assembly constituency following allegations of irregularities in the counting process. Congress candidate Sarvmittar Kamboj raised concerns about the accuracy of the results in the October 2024 Haryana Legislative Assembly elections, particularly regarding the counting at several booths. The C&V will take place from January 9 to 13, 2025, at a warehouse near Sirsa’s traffic park, with nine EVMs under scrutiny.

The verification process will be open to all candidates from the Rania seat, including Kamboj and Arjun Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), to ensure transparency. District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Sharma explained that the C&V process is being conducted as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued after the Supreme Court's directions. He clarified that this C&V exercise would focus solely on checking and verifying the machines and would not include a recounting or rechecking of votes. “Only the EVMs will be examined to ensure the accuracy of the vote recording,” Sharma explained.

However, Kamboj has expressed dissatisfaction with the process, calling it a “mock poll.” He raised concerns over the counting at nine booths where he was confident of winning but the results showed otherwise. “I paid for a recount, but now they are dismissing the issue with this C&V,” Kamboj said. He added that he would participate in the C&V process but might take further action afterwards.

In the October 2024 elections, INLD’s Arjun Chautala won the Rania seat, defeating Kamboj by 4,191 votes, with Ranjit Chautala and BJP’s Shishpal Kamboj securing the third and fourth spots, respectively.