Congress on Friday urged the Election Commission (EC) to call off poll to Tamulpur Assembly constituency in Assam as the candidate of Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), which is its ally, has defected to the BJP.

Tamulpur Assembly constituency in Baksa district will go to poll on April 6 in the third and final phase of the ongoing Assam Assembly election.

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The counting of votes for the Assam Assembly election will be held on May 2, 2021.

Rangja Khungur Basumatary alias Ram Das Basumatary, the official candidate of the BPF, led by former chief executive member (CEM) of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), joined the BJP on Thursday ahead of the election.

Rangja Khungur Basumatary joined the BJP at a function in Tamulpur on Thursday in presence of Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

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Also read: Assam Assembly election: BPF’s “missing” Tamulpur candidate Rangja Khungur Basumatary joins BJP

According to a media report, the Congress delegation to the Election Commission, led by senior party leader and former Union law minister Ashwani Kumar, argued that it was the responsibility of the poll body to ensure the purity of the electoral process and free and fair polling.

Also read: Assam Assembly election: Hagrama Mohilary-led Bodoland People’s Party’s Tamulpur candidate Rangja Khungur Basumatary goes missing   

Ashwani Kumar said “the defections induced by illegal means even before the counting of votes, is a new phenomenon which is a fraud on the people and robs the electorate of the freedom of choice in the election of their representative”.

The Congress leader further said the nation looks to the Election Commission to exercise its constitutional power to subserve the larger purpose of ensuring the sanctity, transparency and integrity of the electoral process.

The Opposition party also sought an investigation into how EVMs were loaded in a vehicle belonging to a BJP candidate.

The Election Commission informed the delegation that four poll officers have been suspended in connection with EVM recovery case.