Assam bypolls: Samaguri Cong candidate alleges rigging by BJP, demands repolling

Samaguri had recorded the highest turnout of 79.55 per cent in the bypolls held on November 13.

Guwahati: Congress candidate for Samaguri constituency Tanzil Hussain on Thursday alleged that the ruling BJP indulged in "booth capturing, rigging, coercion and undue influence" during the by-elections a day ago.

Filing a complaint with the returning officer of the constituency, Hussain demanded repoll in 33 polling stations, which were "captured and rigged" in the interest of free and fair elections.

"There were booth capturing, rigging, coercion, undue influence on the polling day in 88 No Samaguri Legislative Assembly Constituency (LAC) by the goons, miscreants, workers and supporters of BJP," he said.

Hussain alleged that BJP MLAs Jitu Goswami and Rupak Sharma along with their companions visited several booths without any authority in complete violation of the guidelines by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

He then listed out 17 voting stations, from where Congress polling agents were allegedly driven out and the booths were captured and rigged.

The candidate also named seven booths, which were allegedly visited by Goswami and threatened Congress workers, supporters and voters.

On the other hand, Sharma illegally entered two booths and threatened Congress agents, the complaint stated.

Hussain further alleged that his opponent from the BJP, Diplu Ranjan Sarma, manhandled and threatened Congress agents, and rigged voting at six polling stations.

The Congress candidate also said that party workers were "illegally detained" from one polling station by an Additional Superintendent of Police-rank officer.

"Therefore, re-polling is required to be ordered in the aforesaid polling booths which were captured and rigged in the interest of free and fair election," he added.

Bypolls took place in Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali and Samaguri assembly constituencies as these seats fell vacant with the representatives of them winning the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Nearly 76 per cent of 9.1 lakh electors cast their votes during by-elections to five assembly constituencies in Assam. Samaguri recorded the highest turnout of 79.55 per cent.

There were reports of sporadic incidents of violence from different places in Samaguri and Behali while voting was underway.

Incidents of pre-poll violence were reported almost on a daily basis in Samaguri since the bypolls were announced.

Supporters of BJP and Congress were attacked by each other and poll offices have been vandalised across the constituency.

Already, a number of complaints have been filed by both the BJP and Congress before the Election Commission.

Tanzil's father Rakibul Hussain, who won the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat this year by a record margin of over 10.12 lakh votes, was an MLA from Samaguri for five consecutive terms before becoming a parliamentarian.

Out of these five seats where the bypolls were held, only one was with the Congress, while the remaining four were represented by the BJP-led alliance.

At present, the ruling BJP's strength in the 126-member Assam Assembly is 61, while its allies AGP has eight MLAs and UPPL has six.

In the opposition camp, the Congress' strength is 26, AIUDF has 15 members, BPF has three and CPI(M) has one MLA. There is one Independent legislator also.