EC curtails poll campaign ban on Himanta Biswa Sarma to 24 hrs; can address Shah rally

In a big relief for BJP minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, EC has reduced Sarma's ban from 48 hours to 24 hours on Saturday, after the NEDA convener tendered an 'unconditional apology and promised to abide by MCC rules'. Sarma had been banned from campaigning for 48 hours on Friday - ending his poll campaign ahead of phase-3 polls on April 6. Sarma had replied to EC seeking curtailment of his ban to 24 hours instead of 48 hours. Sarma can now address a public meeting along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday in Jalukbari - his constituency, which goes to the polls on April 6.

Himanta gets EC relief

The poll body's order came on Congress' complaint against the NEDA convenor for allegedly threatening BPF president Hagrama Mohilary. BPF which was BJP's ally decided to join the Congress-led 'Mahajot' alliance ahead of the Assam Assembly polls. Accusing Sarma of saying that the NIA will implicate Mohilary and send him to jail, the party stressed that this was an attempt to influence the voters against voting for Mahajot by "unconstitutional means". Amid the EC's curtailment, Congress leader Alka Lamba has alleged 'ECI- puppet in the hands of BJP'.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala termed it a 'dark day for Parliamentary democracy'. Questioning as to why this somersault was taken, he asked 'why did EC then not call upon the complainant, BPF & Congress?'. He proclaimed 'History will neither pardon ECI nor BJP for this sin'.

Assembly election in Assam

The 15-year tenure of Tarun Gogoi as the Chief Minister of Assam came to an end in the 2016 Assembly polls with BJP winning 86 seats as against 26 seats won by Congress. In a blow for BJP in the lead-up to the upcoming Assembly election, its ally BPF decided to join the Congress-led alliance. While BJP is contesting 92 seats, it has allocated 26 and 8 seats to Asom Gana Parishad and the United People's Party Liberal respectively. It has refrained from announcing incumbent CM Sarbananda Sonowal as the CM candidate, leading to speculations that Himanta Biswa Sarma might be another contender for the post. 

On the other hand, Congress has formed a grand alliance with BPF, AGM, AIUDF, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), RJD and JPP. While the voting for the first and second phases has concluded, the polling for the last phase is scheduled for April 6. The polling time has been increased by one hour and there will be 33,530 polling stations. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.