A CORRESPONDENT
NAGAON: Senior Congress leader and Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain alleged that the ruling BJP resorted to rigging during the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election held on Tuesday and demanded repolling at polling stations where serious irregularities allegedly took place.
Addressing a press conference at Rajiv Bhawan, the Nagaon District Congress Committee office, Hussain alleged that rigging took place at several polling stations in the Samaguri Assembly constituency during polling on Tuesday. He claimed that the BJP had attempted to 'steal' the entire bye-election process and that irregularities at several polling stations in Samaguri were particularly serious.
Drawing attention to the alleged irregularities, Hussain appealed to the Election Commission to order fresh polling at those booths where the extent of alleged rigging was substantial. He also criticised BJP candidate Devasish Sharma over the alleged irregularities and questioned the conduct of the electoral process.
The Nagaon District Congress Committee has submitted a complaint to the Election Commission of India, seeking appropriate action and intervention into the allegations.
Hussain had earlier alleged that unidentified persons travelling in around 11 vehicles had entered several polling stations in Samaguri and attempted to influence the election through rigging. However, he did not provide details of all the polling stations allegedly affected or identify the persons involved.
The allegations were made a day after polling for the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency concluded with a voter turnout of around 76 per cent. Nagaon District Commissioner and Returning Officer Aranyak Saikia stated on Tuesday that polling across all eight Assembly constituencies of the parliamentary constituency was conducted peacefully and that no major untoward incident had been reported. Minor EVM-related technical problems were reported at some booths, and the affected machines were replaced.
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