In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won over 40 seats with less than a 50,000 margin of votes. It also won over 77 seats by less than 1 lakh in the election.
Normally, as in previous elections, in 2019 for instance, the full details of the polling were put online latest with 48 hours and included details of voters, votes polled, percentage of votes and also comparison with 2014.
This election, however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has failed to put out total polled votes to date, merely percentages.
What’s worse is that, after voting in phase 1 took place, in which 102 seats were polled in 21 states, the election commission not only upped the figures by an average of 6% but took 11 days to come up with it, and provided only percentages without figures of polled votes.
Shockingly, the total count of votes also increased by over a whopping 1 crore votes. Several states have lesser voters than that! In Lawkshwadeep the vote percentage increased by 25%.
Among other states, for instance, after the revision by ECI, while Andaman which has 3,15,148 voters had the least increase of 22,785 votes, Tamil Nadu which has 6,23,33,925 voters, increased by 46,93,745 votes, Rajasthan which has 2,53,15,541 voters increased by 16,18,141, Assam which has 86,47,869 votes increased by 5,94, 109, Maharashtra which has 95,54,667 voters increased by 8,04,503 and MP which has 1,13,09606 increased by 4,99,886.
On an average there has been 4,76,190 votes per state or 98,039 per constituency in phase 1.
If you go by the 50,000 figure margin that BJP won by in 40 seats, 1 crore extra votes can turn the results in 40 seats. If you go by the lees than 1 lakh margin, it can affect 77 seats.
When the matter was brought before the CJI, the government gave all kinds of excuses including the time it takes to collate data, that too in a digital age. If that’s so, how were the earlier EC’s able to do it latest within 48 hours? What did the EC need 11 days for?
Former EC, S Y Qureshi, who has conducted several elections is on record saying that it takes less than an hour to collate all the figures after a day’s polling.
More importantly, what happened in those 11 days? Were EVMs replaced? Were EVMs subsequently manipulated? Is ECI conspiring to play the fool on counting day by announcing figures that it has announced as percentages? Any number of possible criminal processes could have been indulged in.
There is no way of knowing the facts immediately, but what is immediate is that there is a major problem here and it needs to be addressed.
The only way this can be corrected is by having re-polling in all the 102 seats.
In fact, since the same pattern continues – to date ECI has not revealed total votes polled but only percentages, how can one trust the entire electoral process in all phases so far? This would require for the entire elections themselves to be annulled and re-conducted.
The CJI saying that he would sit all night if necessary on 24th before the next day’s polling of phase 6 to sort out the issues indicates that the courts have taken this matter extremely seriously. It remains to be seen how the Judges rule on this.
At the same time, considering the almost complete failure and visible collusion of the ECI with the ruling party, a case is made out to initiate criminal proceedings against all 3 EC’s leading to subsequent initiation of impeachment proceedings against them. It also calls for a SC monitored re-election to be held.
Is it too late in the day for all this because 5 phases are over? Never. No price is too much to have a free and fair election in a democracy.