Against the backdrop of allegations by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress that some results were being withheld by returning officers in Bihar, the Election Commission on Wednesday asserted that it was working with due diligence and was not under anyone's pressure.
Responding to allegations that victory certificates were not been handed over to candidates from the opposition grand alliance by returning officers on 119 seats, the Commission said the latest figures on its website state that while 146 results have been declared and trends of 97 other seats were available.
The state assembly has 243 seats.
Deputy Election Commissioner in charge of Bihar Chandra Bhushan Kumar asserted that the figures available were 'authentic' as they have been sent by respective returning officers after completing all formalities.
He said the figure of 119 seats was seen on social media platforms an hour ago.
But the latest and 'authentic' figure were in public domain now on the EC result website.
Addressing the media for the third time on counting in Bihar amid the coronavirus pandemic, the EC secretary general said he wants to make it clear on behalf of the Commission that its officials and its election machinery is carrying out counting with due diligence.
"Aayog kabhi bhi kisi ke dabav mein nahin raha hai (The Commission has never worked under anyone's pressure)," he asserted.
Sinha had earlier said by Tuesday night most of the results would be announced, while the rest would be out late at night.
He was asked whether all the results would be announced by Wednesday morning.
Commission officials said nearly 1.6 lakh postal ballots were electronically transferred to service votes.
Nearly 52,000 postal ballots were used by people above 80 years of age and those with disabilities.
They also rejected allegations that counting of postal ballots was stopped midway. They said at no location, counting was stopped.
Kumar said as per an the EC direction of May 2019, if the winning margin is less than the postal ballots found to be invalid, then the recount of such invalid postal ballots has to be carried out.
He said the postal ballots are rejected and declared invalid after being mandatorily validated by the returning officer.
Earlier in the day, the Commission had said that counting of votes for the Bihar assembly elections will take longer than usual and continue till late in the night because of 63 per cent increase in the number of EVMs.
Out of nearly 7.3 crore voters, 57.09 per cent had cast votes in the polls.
An official said the counting has been 'glitch-free' so far.