MUMBAI – India’s Election Commission has dismissed a complaint filed by the opposition Congress Party over vote counting in recent state elections, calling the concerns “frivolous” and “unfounded.” Congress, India’s largest opposition party, raised doubts about the reliability of electronic voting machines after a disappointing result in Haryana, where it had expected to perform strongly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In its statement on Tuesday, the Commission cautioned that such “unfounded doubts” could stir unnecessary public unrest. Congress had termed the election outcome as “unexpected” and “counter-intuitive,” leading them to lodge an official complaint earlier this month.
Although Congress has not yet responded to the Commission’s dismissal, Indian law permits candidates to escalate complaints to the courts if they remain unsatisfied with the Election Commission’s resolution.