Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, April 1: Principal opposition Congress party today accused the ruling BJP of resorting to unfair means to win the ongoing Assembly elections.
“The BJP is hitting new lows. We had highlighted earlier as well as to how the BJP leaders are trying to blackmail and threaten our allies and their opponents in the midst of ongoing elections. In response to Himanta Biswa Sarma openly blackmailing and threatening Hagrama Mohilary of the BPF, the Election Commission has prima facie found him guilty of violating Clause (2) and (4) of the Model Code of Conduct. Even the Journalists Union of Assam condemned BJP’s tactics of derailing democracy. The Congress party has already demanded disqualification of Sarma from contesting the Assam Assembly Elections 2021 and a ban on him from further campaigning in the State,” former Union Minister and senior Congress MP Manish Tewari said here today.
He added, “Neither the BJP nor Himanta Biswa Sarma has any regards for democracy or the Election Commission. The chronology of the BJP’s sinister actions is clear - first they lie, then they intimidate opponents, then they blackmail - but, in the end, we win. With all the blackmailing and threatening, BJP is trying to win an election not by the people’s support but by breaking the opponents. This is the lowest level of democracy that the BJP can stoop to.”
Tewari accused the BJP of flouting the basic norms of democracy.
“After openly blackmailing and threatening Hagrama Mohilary, Sarma has once again been caught in trying to break the opposition candidates. Rangja Khungur Basumatary, another BPF candidate, was missing since yesterday and later joined the BJP today. Sarma yesterday in a tweet mentioned that he had met Basumatary. We demand that the call records of Basumatary be made public so that the people of Assam also get to know what coercion, intimidation or what proposal forced Basumatary to join hands with the BJP. This is not only an attack on the democracy but also treachery against the people of Assam. After the second phase, as the Congress-led grand alliance inches towards the majority figure in Assam, a rejected and dejected BJP is trying all tricks in the book. They can already sense that they are losing people’s support at a rapid rate. We request the Election Commission to take notice of this incident too as Sarma is a repeat offender of the Model Code of Conduct,” said the senior Congress party leader.
He added that a delegation of grand alliance leaders will be meeting the Election Commission soon to request for disqualification of Sarma from both contesting and further campaigning in the Assam Assembly Elections 2021 and also to request deferment of elections for the Tamulpur Assembly constituency where Basumatary is a candidate.
