Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) today accused the state police of intimidating its candidates in the run-up to the Panchayat elections.
APCC president Bhupen Borah, Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi and other senior leaders of the party marched to the office of Director General of Police (DGP) Harmeet Singh in Ulubari to raise concerns over what they described as ‘politically motivated harassment of party candidates’.
However, the Congress leaders were stopped by security personnel and denied entry. In response, they staged a sit-in outside the Assam Police Headquarters.
Bhupen Borah accused the police of acting as BJP campaigners. “For the past week, we’ve been alerting the DGP that police officers are threatening our candidates across the state. Instead of maintaining neutrality, the police are campaigning for the BJP,” Borah said, adding, “In districts like Barpeta, Mangaldoi, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Dhemaji, and Lakhimpur, officer-in-charges have been threatening our candidates, urging them to withdraw their nominations. We have video evidence of these threats.”
Addressing the media, MP Pradyut Bordoloi said he had written to the DGP on April 9, detailing incidents in districts like Nagaon and Morigaon where police allegedly acted at the behest of the BJP. “This has become a pattern — newly inducted BJP members file FIRs against Congress functionaries, and the local police, especially some overzealous officer-in-charges, pressure our candidates to withdraw from the elections,” he said. He cited a case from Jamunamukh in the Nagaon district.
Later, the leaders were allowed inside the office, but they couldn’t meet the DGP.
The Congress has demanded immediate intervention from the DGP to ensure free and fair elections.
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