Shell-shocked by the “unexpected” Haryana verdict, the Congress on Tuesday refused to accept the result, billing it a “victory for manipulation, a victory for subverting the will of the people and a defeat for transparent democratic processes”.

As trends began to show a BJP lead, Congress representatives expressed concern about the integrity of the counting process.

The Congress central leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, went silent. Late in the night, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X: “The result of Haryana is unexpected. The party is assessing the public opinion. After talking to our ground workers, getting complete information and checking the facts, a detailed response will come from the party.”

The Congress questioned the delay on the part of the Election Commission (EC) in announcing round-wise details and flagged issues with EVMs, particularly in Hisar, Mahendragarh and Panipat districts.

The Congress alleged that some of the EVMs in these districts had 99 per cent battery charge and all such machines were providing leads to the BJP while those with 60-70 per cent charge were going in favour of the Congress.

The machines had been lying around for some days and they would have lost some charge, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera suggested, indicating that it is not normal for EVMs to have an almost full charge.

According to Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh, the party is collating the details to present them to the EC. On what the Congress means by saying the results are unacceptable and whether the party would take legal recourse, Ramesh was non-committal about going to court.

“We are not accepting the results because serious issues have been raised about the integrity of the counting process and the functioning of the EVMs in at least three districts — 12 to 14 constituencies. The Election Commission is our first stop. We have to go there first. We will be seeking time from them.... Afterwards whatever is required to be done will be done.”

According to the Congress, there was an effort to create an atmosphere to mount pressure on officials. “Where there was no chance of us losing, we have lost…. The result is against public sentiment for change and ground reality,” Ramesh said, adding that the Haryana chapter is not complete.

Till late Tuesday afternoon, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had been given a free hand by the Congress central leadership much to the dismay of former Union minister Kumari Selja and other local leaders, maintained that the results would be different, in an effort to ensure that the party’s counting agents stayed put at the counting centres.

Khera made it a point to underscore that the party is not rejecting the results from the entire state. “Right now, we are pointing out discrepancies only from three districts. More complaints are pouring in and we will compile all and submit to the ECI.”

As for the BJP’s contention that the Congress always raises the EVM issue when it loses, Khera pointed out that it was a BJP leader who had first flagged problems with the machines in the book Democracy at Risk. Written by G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, it was released by then BJP president Nitin Gadkari in 2010.

As a counter to the BJP’s charge, Khera pointed out that the Congress was not raising the EVM issue in Jammu and Kashmir, where too the party has not done well.

For the Congress, this round of elections has come as a reality check after its improved performance in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year had provided the party and the Indian polity some breathing space. While the Haryana verdict was against all expectations, including within the BJP, the Congress’s Jammu and Kashmir performance dampened the hopes of the party on a comeback trajectory.

The verdict is also likely to make seat-sharing talks with alliance partners in Maharashtra and Jharkhand difficult for the Congress.

In Maharashtra, the Congress had been hoping to corner more seats in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, riding on its performance in the Lok Sabha elections when it scored the biggest tally in the state.

The first salvo appeared to be fired on Tuesday afternoon by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi who told ANI that the Congress will have to assess why it cannot take on the BJP in a direct fight.