Guwahati, April 10 (PTI): The opposition Congress on Wednesday filed a complaint with the Election Commission alleging distribution of cash and liquor in the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam going to polls in the first phase on Thursday.
The five constituencies are Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kaliabor, Tezpur and Lakhimpur.
The complaint was filed by Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) general secretary Diganta Chaudhury.
“On behalf of the APCC, I am directed by the president, Assam PCC to bring to your kind notice the blatant misuse of Model Code of Conduct by BJP leaders during the first phase of elections in the state of Assam and therefore seek your kind intervention into the same,” Chaudhury said in his complaint to the Election Commission of India.
A copy of the complaint was also sent to the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam
Chaudhury in his complaint alleged that many BJP leaders, including ministers, MLAs, MPs and other party workers are openly distributing huge amount of cash and liquor among the voters, especially those residing in the backward areas and tea gardens, of the five constituencies since Tuesday evening.
“Though specific incidents were reported to the district administration of Sonitpur, Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat, no concrete steps have been initiated against the offenders,” the complaint said.
The Congress leader sought urgent intervention into the matter and requested the EC to send strong instructions to the state election machinery to not only be vigilant but also take exemplary action against such offenders as per provisions of law.
An electorate of 76,03,458, including 38,65,334 male, 37,37,970 female and 154 of the third gender will exercise their franchise across 9,574 polling stations in the five
constituencies on Thursday.
