The festival of democracy is unfolding across the nation. The Lok Sabha elections kicked off on April 19th across seven phases and the voting for the second phase was conducted on April 26th. Subsequent to the polling, the Election Commission releases voting percentage data. However, this has now become a hot-button issue as the release of these figures took more time than usual, with opposition parties questioning the delay.
Actually, on Tuesday evening, the Election Commission released these figures, prompting opposition parties to raise questions about the Election Commission's delay. The opposition suspects that voting percentages typically announced within 24 hours were unusually delayed this time.
Let us mention that the Election Commission reported on Tuesday a turnout of 66.14% for the first phase and 66.71% for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Following the data release, parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress, and CPM questioned why there was such a delay.
Source: aajtak
Why Not Reveal the Voter Numbers?
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury raised concerns on social media platform X, demanding transparency for the initial two phases. CPI(M) General Secretary Yechury noted that the voting figures for the ECI's first two phases are significantly higher than the initial numbers. He questioned why the total number of voters per parliamentary constituency is not disclosed? Until this figure is known, the data is meaningless, he argued. He expressed concern that the results could be manipulated by changing the total voter count during tallying. Until 2014, the total number of voters in each constituency was always available on the ECI website. ECI should be transparent and release this data.
TMC Leader Alleges Fudging of Data
Meanwhile, TMC leader Derek O'Brien stated, four days after the end of Phase 2, the Election Commission released the final voting figures. There's a 5.75% increase (voting surge) from the number released by the Commission four days ago. Is this normal? I'm perplexed here.
Note that voting for the general election is taking place in seven phases. The first two phases have been completed on April 19th and April 26th, while the remaining phases will occur on May 7th, May 13th, May 20th, May 25th, and June 1st. The counting of all these votes will happen on June 4th.
Congress Questions the Delay
Before these figures were published, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said it is crucial for the Indian Election Commission (ECI) to be timely and transparent with all election-related data, releasing and making them public. He posted on X, 'For the first time, 11 days after the first phase of voting and four days after the second phase, the final voter turnout percentage by the ECI has not been released. Previously, ECI would publish the final voting percentage immediately after the poll closure. Normally, it is released within 24 hours. But only estimated voting figures are available on the ECI website, what is the reason for this delay?'
'Transparency is Necessary'
Jairam Ramesh stated that, moreover, the number of registered voters in each Lok Sabha constituency and the legislative assembly constituencies within it are also not available on the Commission's website. The site only shows the total number of voters in the state and the number of voters in each booth. The Congress General Secretary stressed that it is imperative for the Indian Election Commission to be timely and transparent with all election-related figures.
