AAP questions 'delay' in turnout figures, EC says process takes time

NEW DELHI: A day after assembly elections in the capital - and exit polls predicting a big victory for it - the Aam Aadmi Party alleged a conspiracy over the "delay" in the Election Commission's announcement of the final voter turnout figures. The poll body rubbished the charge, saying the data was released 24 hours after conclusion of polling, which was neither uncommon nor a delay.
CM Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter on Sunday to express disappointment on the "delay". "Absolutely shocking. What is EC doing? Why're they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling?" he tweeted.

The EC clarified that compilation of the final figures was a time-taking exercise. "This is neither uncommon, nor late," deputy election commissioner of India, Sandeep Saxena, said about the data being released after 24 hours. "Data from 13,750 polling stations is added and the exact number is manually fed on computer. It is a time taking process."

Earlier in the day, AAP functionary Manish Sisodia asked on Twitter whether EC was waiting for the figure from the BJP office. Quoting a tweet by BJP's BL Santosh, which stated that 17% votes were polled in the last two hours, Sisodia tweeted: "BJP leader is putting out voting figures. On the other hand, even after 24 hours of the end of polling, EC is unable to release the turnout of voters, saying that it is gathering the data. What is going on, CEO? Will you get the final turnout figures from BJP office?"

AAP MP Sanjay Singh stated at a press conference that the party feared a deep conspiracy over the delay. “Till now, whenever the elections have been held, Election Commission used to declare the percentage of the voting. It has been 24 hours since the voting of the Delhi assembly election completed, but EC is not ready to announce the voting percentage. This points towards a deep conspiracy. EC should explain why it has not yet announced the voting percentage. This is the first time in 70 years that EC is not ready to announce the voting percentage,” Singh said.
Singh said the delay was surprising. “In any election, be it Lok Sabha or assembly, EC used to announce the voting percentage the same day. I remember when the elections were held by ballot papers, EC used to announce the voting percentage even at such times. But for the first time in 70 years, such a strange thing happened. This means a conspiracy is being hatched,” Singh said.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said AAP was unnecessarily creating a controversy.
“AAP knows that it is losing that’s why it is holding press conferences and raising questions about EC,” Tiwari said. “Why is AAP worried when exit polls are giving them 44 seats and BJP only 26? Don't make excuses to blame the EVM.”
AAP claimed the calculation of voting percentage was not a lengthy process. “After polling is over, the polling officers send the details of polling taken place at every booth to EC. After compiling the information given by all polling officials, EC declares the voting percentage. It declared the voting percentage of LS elections held across the whole country, but the commission is not ready to give the voting percentage in just 70 legislative assemblies in Delhi,” Sanjay Singh said.
In Video:Delhi polls: AAP guns for EC over final voter turn-out figures