The Election Commission (EC) has refuted allegations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding manipulation of voter lists in Haryana during the 2024 elections, dismissing his "H-file" claims as unfounded. The EC stated that no appeals or objections were raised by Congress representatives during the revision of electoral rolls or the polling process.
Gandhi, in a press conference, alleged that there were 2.5 million "fake" voters in Haryana, accusing the EC of colluding with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to manipulate the 2024 Haryana Assembly election. He presented what he called "The H Files," claiming large-scale voter duplication and fake identities within the state's voter list, stating that "one in eight voters in Haryana are fake". Gandhi further questioned the EC's integrity, alleging the destruction of CCTV footage from polling booths and the failure to utilize software capable of detecting duplicate entries. He also claimed instances of individuals registered in both Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, including BJP leaders, and highlighted discrepancies in postal vote counts compared to actual voting at polling stations. Gandhi pointed to instances of "bulk" voters, where multiple voters shared a single address, and questioned the EC's explanation for "zero-number houses" being assigned to homeless voters. He even presented an example of a "Brazilian model" allegedly appearing multiple times on the voter list under different names.
The EC has challenged Gandhi's claims, questioning why Congress booth-level agents, who are responsible for overseeing voting and reporting irregularities, did not raise objections during the revision process to avoid multiple entries. Sources within the EC stated that Gandhi's allegations were unfounded and that no appeals were filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Haryana shared that draft electoral rolls were shared with recognized political parties on August 2, 2024, and that over 20,000 booth-level officers were involved in addressing claims and objections during the summary revision. The CEO added that after the final rolls were distributed on August 27, 2024, there were no appeals or second appeals filed against the decision, and only five complaints or objections were recorded during the post-poll scrutiny. The EC also challenged Gandhi to submit his claims with evidence as a sworn affidavit.
The BJP won 48 seats in the 2024 Haryana Assembly election, while the Congress secured 37. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) won two, and independents took three in the 90-member Assembly.
