The Election Commission (ECI) said on Friday that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks on the release of voter turnout data were designed to create confusion and impediments to free and fair elections.
The poll body said in a letter to Kharge that his statements were "unwarranted and reflective of a biased and deliberate attempt to spread confusion on credibility of the electoral steps".
Earlier this week, the Congress chief had written a letter to leaders of the INDIA bloc and claimed that there were discrepancies in the voting data released by the poll body. He shared the letter on X and had said that the "credibility of the Election Commission" was at an all-time low.
The poll body said in its letter that Kharge had "articulated statements which are actually verifiable and thus within knowledge to be incorrect, aimed at pushing a biased narrative, in the face of verifiable facts, as well as settled judicial decisions" by the Supreme Court.
The Election Commission further said that it found a "pattern in creating false narrative" from the Congress during the elections in the past. It highlighted Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala's claims during the Karnataka Assembly elections that the electronic voting machines (EVM) used in the polls were previously deployed in South Africa.
"A trend of irresponsible statements attacking or attempting to degrade the credibility of the elections in terms of men and material by a
National Political Party is disconcerting," the poll panel said in the letter.
It further said that although the Election Commission respected the right to free speech, but it "has a responsibility to act against developments which have a direct impact on delivery of its core mandate of conduct of elections in its entirety till delivery of results".
The poll panel rejected Kharge's allegations and advised him to refrain from making such statements.
