Congress alleges foul play in Gujarat elections

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The Indian National Congress on December 12 alleged foul play in the recently held Gujarat Assembly elections, the party said polling of 11.55 percent votes in the last hour on a few seats during the second phase of polls on December 5 seems suspicious.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “During the second phase of polls in Gujarat, more than 16 lakh votes were polled between 5 pm to 6 pm. Within an hour, there was an increase in polling on a few seats by 11.55 percent, which is not possible. To cast a vote, it takes a voter at least a minute.”

“If you estimate, on few seats, people cast their votes within 25-30 seconds, which is not possible in reality,” alleged Khera.

He said, “We are taking stock of the reports and we will follow up on this complaint with the relevant authorities soon and take it to its logical conclusion. We have been to Election Commission many times in connection with different matters, but justice never prevails. To save democracy, we will take all steps.”

Khera added that details have been sought from all the candidates to analyze it and take immediate steps.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 8 retained Gujarat again for a record seventh term by bagging 156 of the 182 Assembly seats, while the opposition Congress won 17 seats and AAP got 5 seats.

The Congress’ allegations came hours after Bhupendra Patel was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was administered oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Gujarat by Governor Acharya Devvrat in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Congress’ vote share has reduced to 27.3 percent from 41 percent in the 2017 assembly elections when it won 77 seats and restricted the ruling BJP to 99.