If there was no manipulation of 4.65 crore votes, there would have been an I.N.D.I.A government at the Center: Report
# News Bureau Desh 27 Jul, 2024
Citing a report, the Congress on Saturday alleged a discrepancy of about 4.65 crore votes between the initial and final count of the Lok Sabha elections, about which it claims that if these votes had gone to the India Alliance, it would have had the highest number of seats in Parliament. This claim of the Congress is based on the report titled ‘Report: Conduct of Lok Sabha Elections 2024’ released by ‘Vote for Democracy’. This report has been in the public domain for several days but the mainstream media is silent on it. There is no debate anywhere.
The Vote for Democracy report has questioned the fairness of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. The report said that the manipulation of 4.65 crore votes from the initial polling figures to the final polling figures led to the BJP-led NDA getting 79 seats in 15 states of the country. NDA won 11 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra due to the increase in votes due to manipulation. That is, if there was no manipulation of votes, BJP, which won 9 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, would not have won even a single seat. The anger of the people in Maharashtra has put an end to BJP and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera on Saturday briefly explained the report: The Vote for Democracy report has made some shocking revelations that may shake people’s faith in our democracy. The report claims the following:
A discrepancy of nearly 5 crore votes between the initial vote count and the final vote count.
The report claims that at least 79 seats in 15 states could have been won by the NDA/BJP through an increase in votes, which means that if this is true, the All India Alliance would have had the maximum number of seats in Parliament.
The ECI delayed the publication of the final polling percentage in the entire 7 phases, which again raises serious concerns. If the report is false, @ECISVEEP (Central Election Commission) must clarify its stand on this and restore people’s shaken faith in the democratic process. But if what is said in the report is true, then a turning point is coming in the political history of Indian democracy.
The report analysed vote manipulation and discrepancies during polling and counting. The report raised serious concerns about the inflated polling percentage by the Election Commission (ECI) as well as discrepancies between the total votes cast and the total votes counted in the election.
Vote for Democracy did a numerical analysis of the election results and voter turnout percentage. From the preliminary polling data to the final polling data in seven phases, the Election Commission added 4,65,46,885 votes. This increase rate was recorded in all constituencies ranging from about 3.2% to 6.32%. It highlighted that this difference in vote percentage reached 12.54% in Andhra Pradesh and 12.48% in Odisha. In both the states, the government changed and the BJP’s allies got seats. The report claims that the increase in the post-poll percentage has benefited the ruling government i.e. NDA.
The report alleged that the unprecedented rise in vote percentage led to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA winning 79 seats across the country. This includes 18 seats in Odisha, 11 in Maharashtra, 10 in West Bengal, 7 in Andhra Pradesh, 6 in Karnataka, 5 each in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, 3 each in Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, 2 in Assam and 1 each in Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala.
Sebastian Morris, a retired professor at IIM Ahmedabad and a member of the independent panel monitoring India’s elections, said, “In these 79 Lok Sabha constituencies, the margin of victory is very small compared to the increase in votes. The pattern of these seats says that the difference is very big, the change has come after a long time and it has been seen in constituencies where there was a close fight. I think there is a huge bias that has come to the fore.”
Following the release of the report, around 25 civil society organisations issued a notice to the Election Commission of India demanding an inquiry into alleged irregularities, vote manipulation, violations of the Model Code of Conduct. The notice sought clarifications on complaints of bias in the appointment of election commissioners, manipulation of registration and counting, illogical and chaotic scheduling of election dates, non-availability of Form 17C to voting agents and delay in releasing voter turnout.
