Congress to form fact-finding committee to investigate Haryana elections loss - Sources

Following its defeat in the Haryana assembly elections, the Congress party is set to form a fact-finding committee to investigate the reasons for its loss, as reported by ANI sources.

Sunita Iyer

First Published Oct 10, 2024, 1:39 PM IST | Last Updated Oct 10, 2024, 2:09 PM IST

Following its defeat in the Haryana assembly elections, the Congress party is set to form a fact-finding committee to investigate the reasons for its loss, as reported by ANI sources. The move comes as efforts intensify to form a new government in the state, with Nayab Singh Saini meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders in Delhi ahead of his expected swearing-in as the head of the new administration.

AICC Observer for Haryana assembly elections, Congress leader Ajay Maken on Thursday said, " We held a review meeting on Haryana election results. Poll results were unprecedented. There was a lot of difference between exit polls and actual results. We have decided what we will do going ahead."

The BJP, having secured its best-ever performance with 48 seats, indicated that Saini, who hails from the Other Backward Classes and succeeded Manohar Lal Khattar as the party's candidate, would take on the top post if the party emerged victorious. Saini's anticipated swearing-in is expected to occur after Dussehra, sources reported.

In response to the election results, the Congress party has demanded a comprehensive investigation into reported "discrepancies" found in certain Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the vote counting process. A delegation of senior Congress leaders, including former chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Ashok Gehlot, along with AICC leaders K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken, Pawan Khera, and Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan, met with top Election Commission officials on Wednesday. They presented a memorandum detailing specific complaints from various constituencies in Haryana, urging that the EVMs in question be sealed and secured pending further inquiry.

The Congress party faced criticism from several opposition parties within the INDIA bloc, who accused it of neglecting collaborative efforts that may have contributed to their electoral loss. Rahul Gandhi, reacting to the defeat, acknowledged that the party was analyzing the "unexpected" results.

With the BJP set to form the new government, the party has garnered support from two Independent MLAs—Congress rebel Rajesh Joon and BJP rebel Devendra Kadian. They met with BJP leaders, including Haryana state president Mohan Lal Badoli, to express their backing. Additionally, industrialist and Independent MLA Savitri Jindal has also pledged her support after meeting Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP's in-charge for the Haryana polls.

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