Guwahati, Congress candidate from Assam's Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency Hafiz Rasheed Ahmed Choudhary, who lost to BJP's sitting MP Kripanath Mallah by 18,360 votes, on Monday said he will approach the Gauhati High Court over the issue of difference in polling numbers. . On the day of voting and counting.
Along with the Congress, another opposition party CPI (M) also demanded a probe and re-polling in the entire Lok Sabha constituency located in Assam's Barak Valley.
According to information available on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam, a total of 11,36,538 people, excluding service voters, had cast their votes in Karimganj in the second phase of elections on April 26.
However, the result sheet (Form 20) uploaded on the CEO site states that the total number of votes polled on the EVMs was 11,40,349.
There are six assembly constituencies – Hailakandi, Algapur-Katlichera, Karimganj North, Karimganj South, Patharkandi and Ram Krishna Nagar.The number of votes counted at all these places shows a figure in excess of the votes cast.
Addressing a press conference here, Chaudhary said there were glaring discrepancies and this could be seen from the Election Commission data itself.
He alleged, "There was massive rigging and it was done by the BJP MLAs of the area. They had told the voters that if they did not vote for the BJP then bulldozers would be used to demolish their houses and this It was also reported in the media."
Chaudhary said he had filed a total of 19 complaints over alleged rigging across the constituency on polling day on April 26, but "the Election Commission or local authorities did nothing" to stop it.He said that before the voting, the Congress had filed a complaint regarding the possibility of rigging by the ruling BJP and urged the Election Commission to take necessary steps for free and fair voting.
"Despite all this, I got more votes. However, it has now emerged that more votes were counted than those polled. Although the difference of 3,811 votes will not change the present result as the margin of my defeat is higher, but I strongly believe that the discrepancy was even bigger,” Choudhary said.
The Congress leader said he would approach the Gauhati High Court and demand repoll in the entire Karimganj constituency in view of the "serious anomalies" committed by the ECI and its local administration.He said that Mallah's victory certificate should be postponed until a decision is taken from the court.
"It has to be found out how more votes can be inserted in the EVMs after the polling is over and sealing them. It is clear that there was no fairness in the election process," he said.
Meanwhile, repeated calls and messages to Assam CEO Anurag Goyal for comment on the discrepancy remained unanswered. Other officials in the CEO office said they were not "authorized persons" to comment on the issue.
CPI(M) Assam state secretary Suprakash Talukdar, in a statement, criticized the ECI for not taking timely action against allegations of widespread rigging in the constituency."Now, the role of the ECI has come under suspicion regarding the discrepancy in polling and counting of votes. It deserves a fair investigation and we demand re-polling in the constituency," he said.
BJP MPs won nine of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, while its allies AGP and UPPL won one seat each.Congress retained three seats.
Along with the Congress, another opposition party CPI (M) also demanded a probe and re-polling in the entire Lok Sabha constituency located in Assam's Barak Valley.
According to information available on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam, a total of 11,36,538 people, excluding service voters, had cast their votes in Karimganj in the second phase of elections on April 26.
However, the result sheet (Form 20) uploaded on the CEO site states that the total number of votes polled on the EVMs was 11,40,349.
There are six assembly constituencies – Hailakandi, Algapur-Katlichera, Karimganj North, Karimganj South, Patharkandi and Ram Krishna Nagar.The number of votes counted at all these places shows a figure in excess of the votes cast.
Addressing a press conference here, Chaudhary said there were glaring discrepancies and this could be seen from the Election Commission data itself.
He alleged, "There was massive rigging and it was done by the BJP MLAs of the area. They had told the voters that if they did not vote for the BJP then bulldozers would be used to demolish their houses and this It was also reported in the media."
Chaudhary said he had filed a total of 19 complaints over alleged rigging across the constituency on polling day on April 26, but "the Election Commission or local authorities did nothing" to stop it.He said that before the voting, the Congress had filed a complaint regarding the possibility of rigging by the ruling BJP and urged the Election Commission to take necessary steps for free and fair voting.
"Despite all this, I got more votes. However, it has now emerged that more votes were counted than those polled. Although the difference of 3,811 votes will not change the present result as the margin of my defeat is higher, but I strongly believe that the discrepancy was even bigger,” Choudhary said.
The Congress leader said he would approach the Gauhati High Court and demand repoll in the entire Karimganj constituency in view of the "serious anomalies" committed by the ECI and its local administration.He said that Mallah's victory certificate should be postponed until a decision is taken from the court.
"It has to be found out how more votes can be inserted in the EVMs after the polling is over and sealing them. It is clear that there was no fairness in the election process," he said.
Meanwhile, repeated calls and messages to Assam CEO Anurag Goyal for comment on the discrepancy remained unanswered. Other officials in the CEO office said they were not "authorized persons" to comment on the issue.
CPI(M) Assam state secretary Suprakash Talukdar, in a statement, criticized the ECI for not taking timely action against allegations of widespread rigging in the constituency."Now, the role of the ECI has come under suspicion regarding the discrepancy in polling and counting of votes. It deserves a fair investigation and we demand re-polling in the constituency," he said.
BJP MPs won nine of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, while its allies AGP and UPPL won one seat each.Congress retained three seats.
