The Assam Congress has moved the Election Commission once again.
The Assam Congress has moved the Election Commission over incidents of EVM ‘theft’ and ‘entry’ of “suspicious individuals” into a strong room.
Assam Congress President Ripun Bora in a letter to Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) – Nitin Khade has urged the Assam State Election Commission to “cause enquiries and take legal actions against all individuals found guilty”.
The Assam Congress in its letter to the Election Commission listed incidents, wherein EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) were found in vehicles, which were “not requisitioned for election purpose”.
Apart from the incident where EVM was recovered from a vehicle belonging to BJP MLA and candidate of the saffron party from Patharkandi constituency – Krishnendu Paul, the Assam Congress also listed three other incidents, where EVMs were recovered under “mysterious circumstances” from vehicles “not requisitioned for election purpose”.
“Several EVMs were found by local public in the dikki (trunk) of a luxury car (not requisitioned for election purpose) near Hatipura Polling Station in Diphu under mysterious circumstances,” the Assam Congress listed.
“Several EVMs were seized from a vehicle in Jamunamukh constituency, which were being carried by Government officials in the absence of any security personnel. No security personnel were present in the vehicle,” the Assam Congress further added.
“An EVM was found missing from a polling station in Kalaigaon constituency,” the Assam Congress further listed.
The Assam Congress also raised the issue of EVM malfunctioning in as many as 139 polling stations in the constituencies of: Jagiroad, Nagaon, Hojai, Nilbagan, Lumding, Udalguri and Silchar, that went to polls in the second phase of Assam Assembly elections held on April 1 (Thursday).
Notably, the Assam Congress also raised the issue of entry of “suspicious individuals” into a restricted area in a strong room in Dibrugarh.
“…in the Strong Room set in Dibrugarh, suspicious individuals were seen loitering within a restricted area. The Congress party has lodged complaint with the returning officer,” the Assam Congress added in its letter to the State Election Commission.
“…it is being observed that there was a dereliction of official duty by officials involved in the Election processes,” the Assam Congress stated.
“…you are requested to ensure free and fair poll in the third phase of election and to stop such looting and malfunctioning of EVMs,” the Assam Congress asked the Assam CEO.