New Delhi: The Election Commission Tuesday said it has never worked under anybody’s pressure and refuted the RJD’s allegations about not giving winning certificates to candidates of the Grand Alliance.
The RJD in a tweet had put out a list of 119 seats where the Grand Alliance candidates had won after completion of counting, and returning officers had allegedly congratulated them for the victory, but they are not given certificates.
Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan in a press conference said the poll body has learnt about this tweet and cited the results and trends are available on the Election Commission website constituency wise. “At 10 pm, we are here. The results of 146 seats have been declared. In 97 cases trends are available. So this is the factual situation available in the public domain for everybody to see and witness.”
The poll body said the last few phases of counting are remaining in Bihar polls, and it may hold another press conference at midnight, if required, with the final update on the polls. It was not clear whether the counting of ballots will continue throughout the night.
However, when asked about the list of 119 candidates put out by the RJD, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, Umesh Sinha, clarified that whatever information is it with the Election Commission is authentic information, as it reaches the poll body after data is authenticated. “The returning officers complete the task assigned and the observers supervise the process. They follow the due procedure and then that information is submitted. There can be some gaps in the information: the information with them and the official information”, he added.
A bitter battle is going on for the 243-seat Bihar Assembly between the two alliances. In the midst of this, the RJD has alleged that the JD-U is trying to slow down the pace of counting. It has also alleged that successful candidates are not being given winning certificates.
The RJD said in a tweet, “This is a list of 119 seats where the grand alliance candidates have won after the completion of counting. The returning officers congratulated them for the victory, but now they are not giving the certificate saying that you have lost. They [Grand Alliance candidates] were also shown winning on the ECI website. Such loot will not work in a democracy.”
RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha said he wants to urge Chief Minister Nitish Kumar not to disrespect the people’s mandate.
“The Mahagathbandhan will emerge victorious. The people of Bihar won’t tolerate such actions. I request the outgoing CM not to call up returning officers and put pressure on them,” Jha said.
Chitranjan Gagan, state spokesperson of the RJD, also alleged that CM Nitish Kumar was misusing his power to affect the electoral process in more than a dozen constituencies. Hence, his party is going to file complaints before the Election Commission of India.
But the ruling JD-U has refuted all such allegations, calling them a sign of frustration. Sanjay Singh, spokesperson of JD-U, said: “The people of Bihar have defeated the Mahagathbandhan and now its leaders are levelling false allegations against us. The NDA has contested these elections with Nitish Kumar as the CM face and he will remain the Chief Minister of Bihar.”