GUWAHATI, June 17 � Congress party today exuded confidence of sweeping the forthcoming polls to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and accused the opposition parties of levelling false allegations against it to draw mileage in the run-up to the elections.
�Our victory is inevitable and as per our estimates, we will win more than 20 out of the 31 wards. We will consolidate our gains even further during the next two days,� senior Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) leader and chairman of the party�s media cell Dr Haren Das told reporters here today.
He added, �The opposition has become disheartened and have started leveling allegations against us as was the case with the incident which took place at the Railway Colony in Latasil area yesterday.�
Das said there was no violence by the Congress workers. �We have talked with the police and the police have told us that it was a minor incident. Such things happen. There was no physical violence from our workers, and in fact, one Congress supporter was assaulted by BJP workers,� he said.
APCC spokesman Kishor Bhattacharyya said that some supporters of Biswajit Mitra, Congress candidate for area sabha seat, 10-C, were returning after taking part in a rally and they were shouting slogans while passing through the Railway Colony area.
�Our workers were not aware that a BJP meeting was going on in the locality. The BJP has tried to portray as if our workers deliberately tried to disrupt their meeting. In fact, Mitra�s driver Phulchand Ali was accosted and beaten up by BJP workers and bodyguards of Lok Sabha MP Bijoya Chakravarty.
�Only after that our workers gheraod the MP demanding that the culprits responsible for beating up Ali should be handed over to the police. The police also tried to mediate between the two sides but the BJP went to the media and tried to gain political mileage out of the issue,� Bhattacharyya said.
He said Ali has filed an FIR at the Latasil police station in which it has been stated that he was threatened by BJP workers at the �instigation of Chakravarty.�
�The BJP has tried to spread the news that the one person arrested in connection with the case, Amit Sarkar, is a Congress worker. The fact is that Sarkar is, in fact, a BJP activist,� Bhattacharyya said.
The Congress leader condemned the BJP MP. �We feel proud that a senior lady like her is playing a big role in the democratic process of our country. But unfortunately, she uses all her skills for negative reasons,� Bhattacharyya said.
He said that BJP has come to realize that it will perform badly in the civic polls. �So they have become depressed and have started making false allegations to gain mileage and win sympathy of the voters,� Bhattacharyya said.
Senior Congress MLA and former minister Robin Bordoloi said on the occasion, �We, being the ruling party, are playing the role of the bride�s father. Just like a bride�s father wants the marriage to pass off peacefully, we also want to see a free and fair poll. If we do anything wrong, we will be discredited in front of the people,� he said.
