The Opposition INDIA bloc will move the Supreme Court over the alleged manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines in the recent Assembly elections in Maharashtra, reported PTI on Tuesday.

The announcement came after Sharad Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), met Aam Aadmi Party’s National Convener Arvind Kejriwal.

On November 23, the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra – comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena group led by Eknath Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Ajit Pawar – won 230 seats in the 288-member Assembly.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi – comprising the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Sharad Pawar and the Congress – won 46 seats.

All three parties are constituents of the INDIA bloc at the national level. The Aam Aadmi Party is also part of the alliance.

Days after the result was announced, the Congress’ Maharashtra unit had accused the Election Commission of tampering with voter data. The party had asked how voter turnout increased by 7.83 percentage points after the official polling time had ended.

On November 20, the day of polling in Maharashtra, a voter turnout of 58.22% was reported by 5 pm, according to Election Commission data. By 11.30 pm on the same day, the turnout went up to 65.02% and reached 66.05% by November 21.

On November 28, Congress’ Maharashtra unit Nana Patole said: “The Election Commission must explain how such an increase was possible. Where are the long queues that would justify this spike in numbers?”

He added: “The commission should release video footage and photographs from polling stations to ensure transparency.”

In response to the allegations, the Election Commission had said that the increase in voter turnout after polling hours is not unusual and follows standard procedures.

“In Maharashtra, voters were in queue at 6 pm in many of the polling stations,” said the Chief Electoral Office in Maharashtra on social media. “Even in 2019, the percentages were 54.43% (approx) at 5 pm and 61.10% at final [count]. In urban and semi-urban areas, which constitute a large chunk in Maharashtra, a large number of voters come in the evening.”

After the INDIA bloc announced its decision to move the Supreme Court, BJP leader Sambit Patra said the move shows that the “Congress has no respect for the Constitution”, reported ANI.

“The Congress repeatedly goes to the Supreme Court regarding EVM and comes back after being defeated,” said Patra on Wednesday. “The entire process of working of EVM has been captured on CCTV and put it in front of everyone through a press conference. Still, the Congress is going to the Supreme Court regarding this entire issue.”

The Maha Vikas Aghadi had reiterated its allegations on Tuesday, claiming that there was an increase of 76 lakh votes in the last hour of polling.

“The main question is how did 76 lakh votes increase and why the EC is not showing CCTV footage?” The Indian Express quoted Patole as having asked. “The EC should be transparent, which it has not been in the whole process. Issuing mere press statement will not help.”

In response to the allegations, state Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kiran Kulkarni on Tuesday said that Electronic Voting Machines cannot be hacked or tampered with, ANI reported.

“There is a simple reason for this,” he said. “First, it is a standalone machine, it has no connection with any network or outer gadget. So, hacking or tampering is not possible. Second, the chip used in it is one-time programmable. So, there cannot be any reprogramming of it.”