New Delhi: The marathon elections are over, exit polls done.
It seems to be advantage BJP-led NDA as almost all exit polls have predicted at leaset 350 seats for them and a comfortable third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Opposition INDIA bloc has dismissed the exit polls as ‘bogus’ and maintained that it will defeat the BJP by winning 295 seats.
The suspense over what actually will unfold on June 4, the counting day, will continue for at least 36 more hours. And it’s clear that both sides are on the edge and not taking anything for granted, whatever the exit polls point at.
The INDIA bloc and BJP both approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) in tit-for-tat moves.
The Opposition asked ECI to ensure that all guidelines are followed during Tuesday’s counting, while the BJP alerted the poll body against “coordinated attempts” by INDIA group parties to “undermine the integrity” of the electoral process.
“They (the Opposition) are directly attacking the Democratic institutions and pose a threat to the electoral process,” stated a letter from BJP, signed by Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal.
The ruling party accused the Opposition of working with a plan to discredit institutions and the electoral process, citing the recent hearing on Electronic Voting Machines in Supreme Court.
“They have a clear pattern, first they target the institution, then they target the process and methods of the Institution and then if the judgement goes against them, they will raise questions and cases on the elections process, EVMs and VVPATS (Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail). When they are losing an election, they are looking for a scapegoat and looking to justify the loss and don’t want to accept the reality of who the voters choose,” the letter added.
BJP pointed out that the top court rejected the appeal for a return to ballot papers, with some strong comments.
Earlier on Sunday, Congress said it was meeting the ECI for the third time during the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
The Opposition parties flagged the issue of ensuring security to EVMs and VVPATs, and urged officials to ensure that the control units of EVMs are moved through CCTV-monitored corridors and verify the current date-and-time display of control units.
“This verification is important because unless it is done, there is no authenticity that it is the same control unit that came from the polling booth, that it has not been changed,” CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said.
The letter, sent to the Election Commission after a two-and-half hour meeting of INDIA bloc parties on Saturday to finalise strategy for counting day, highlighted the need for election officials to strictly adhere to guidelines during counting.
