New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Monday said "fake" and "mischievous" rumors were spread to influence the general elections and sought evidence from the opposition to support his claim that district elections were being organized to spoil the election process. The magistrates were influenced.
Referring to the opposition's claims on faulty voter lists, efficacy of EVMs, voting percentage and counting process, Kumar said, "You cannot spread rumors and bring everyone under suspicion."
The CEC along with Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and SS Sandhu were speaking at a press conference on the eve of counting of votes.
“There is a pattern, there is a design, I am not saying it is a toolkit,” CEC said. But there is a design,'' he said as cases pending for years were raised just four days before the first phase of voting.Taking a dig at the opposition, he said that the Commission had prepared to deal with any foreign attempt to influence the election process, but these allegations have come from within the country.
Kumar said, "We failed to understand the fake things that were going on during the elections, but now we have understood."
With the Election Commission facing criticism for holding the elections in extreme heat, the CEC said the three major learnings from the elections are that the process should have been completed a month earlier.
“They should not have been held in such hot weather. This is a big election with a lot of forces involved.There are a lot of movements. We cannot reduce the time taken for the process but it could have been done earlier in this heat,” Kumar said.
"We failed to understand the fake narrative going on during the elections. But now we have understood it... We have to be prepared to fight the fake narrative next time," the CEC said.
Objecting to allegations of influencing district magistrates, the CEC said, “The accusers should tell which DM was influenced and we will punish them.They should tell us before the counting process starts."
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah was calling district magistrates and collectors and making "gross and brazen" threats.
During elections the District Magistrate and Collector are the returning officers of their respective districts.
Ramesh claimed that Shah had already spoken to 150 district magistrates or collectors.
The Election Commission had recently asked the Congress leader to submit the factual details of the allegations made in a social media post by Sunday evening, but he wrote a letter to the Election Commission on Monday asking for a week's time to submit his reply.However, the Election Commission refused to give additional time to the Congress leader and said that he should file his reply by 7 pm today - June 3, failing which it will be considered that you have nothing to say in the matter. is also not solid. The Commission will proceed to take appropriate action.”
Kumar said the Election Commission has accepted all the demands of the multi-party delegation that met the panel on Sunday and said the issues raised by them were part of the electoral process that has been going on for seven decades.
Kumar said, “Some demands were made by a multi-party delegation. We have agreed to all the demands.He indicated that most of the issues raised by the multi-party delegation were part of the election manual.
Kumar said, "This process has been going on for 70 years... We have given instructions to every RO/ARO. These are our orders and they are no joke. Everyone has been instructed to follow the handbook/manual "
On the opposition's claims on postal ballots, the CEC said that postal ballots will be counted first and counting of votes recorded in EVMs will begin after 30 minutes.Kumar said, “The same procedure was followed in the 2019 and 2022 assembly elections. As soon as the counting of EVMs is over, the counting of five random VVPATs starts."
Referring to the opposition's claims on faulty voter lists, efficacy of EVMs, voting percentage and counting process, Kumar said, "You cannot spread rumors and bring everyone under suspicion."
The CEC along with Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and SS Sandhu were speaking at a press conference on the eve of counting of votes.
“There is a pattern, there is a design, I am not saying it is a toolkit,” CEC said. But there is a design,'' he said as cases pending for years were raised just four days before the first phase of voting.Taking a dig at the opposition, he said that the Commission had prepared to deal with any foreign attempt to influence the election process, but these allegations have come from within the country.
Kumar said, "We failed to understand the fake things that were going on during the elections, but now we have understood."
With the Election Commission facing criticism for holding the elections in extreme heat, the CEC said the three major learnings from the elections are that the process should have been completed a month earlier.
“They should not have been held in such hot weather. This is a big election with a lot of forces involved.There are a lot of movements. We cannot reduce the time taken for the process but it could have been done earlier in this heat,” Kumar said.
"We failed to understand the fake narrative going on during the elections. But now we have understood it... We have to be prepared to fight the fake narrative next time," the CEC said.
Objecting to allegations of influencing district magistrates, the CEC said, “The accusers should tell which DM was influenced and we will punish them.They should tell us before the counting process starts."
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah was calling district magistrates and collectors and making "gross and brazen" threats.
During elections the District Magistrate and Collector are the returning officers of their respective districts.
Ramesh claimed that Shah had already spoken to 150 district magistrates or collectors.
The Election Commission had recently asked the Congress leader to submit the factual details of the allegations made in a social media post by Sunday evening, but he wrote a letter to the Election Commission on Monday asking for a week's time to submit his reply.However, the Election Commission refused to give additional time to the Congress leader and said that he should file his reply by 7 pm today - June 3, failing which it will be considered that you have nothing to say in the matter. is also not solid. The Commission will proceed to take appropriate action.”
Kumar said the Election Commission has accepted all the demands of the multi-party delegation that met the panel on Sunday and said the issues raised by them were part of the electoral process that has been going on for seven decades.
Kumar said, “Some demands were made by a multi-party delegation. We have agreed to all the demands.He indicated that most of the issues raised by the multi-party delegation were part of the election manual.
Kumar said, "This process has been going on for 70 years... We have given instructions to every RO/ARO. These are our orders and they are no joke. Everyone has been instructed to follow the handbook/manual "
On the opposition's claims on postal ballots, the CEC said that postal ballots will be counted first and counting of votes recorded in EVMs will begin after 30 minutes.Kumar said, “The same procedure was followed in the 2019 and 2022 assembly elections. As soon as the counting of EVMs is over, the counting of five random VVPATs starts."
