Congress making 'baseless allegations' against Assam CM to keep political relevance: BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national Vice President Baijayant Panda on Monday slammed the Indian National Congress (INC) saying that the opposition was making baseless allegations against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to keep itself 'politically relevant'. He claimed that the grand old party was disseminated in the state assembly elections. A Congress delegation led by Assam in-charge Jitendra Singh had earlier met the Election Commission (EC) demanding action against the BJP for malpractices.

Baijayant Panda statement against the INC came after the Congress asked the Election Commission of India to ban Himanta Biswa Sarma from campaigning for the upcoming election. Congress claimed that the Assam Chief Minister was luring and threatening voters to vote for the ruling party.

"BJP is engaging in unethical ways of bribing and luring the voters," said Congress while demanding a case be "registered for bribery" against the BJP and Sarma.

BJP attacks Congress for allegations on CM

With bypolls in Assam around the corner, allegations and counter-allegations of bribery and malpractices between Congress and the BJP have increased.

"This shows Congress desperation and they are petrified because they have done extremely poorly in Assam in all other places and wherever the election had been held in recent years. They are making these wild allegations to try to keep themselves relevant," Panda told ANI after the Congress delegation met the EC.

Panda said that the party believed in the EC and expects it to look into the matter. "Our campaign in Assam by the Chief Minister is based entirely on the manifesto that has been published on which our election was fought just a few months ago and those promises have already been fulfilled in Assam. You can see the number of arrests and drugs seizures and a number of actions taken on many different fronts such as illegal encroachers who are not of Indian origin and many such actions," he said.

Further hitting out at the opposition for its claims, Panda said, "Congress has never fulfilled any promises they made to the public. I ask them to look at their own situation in their party they really ought to fix their own problems rather than making such wild allegations."

"We have full faith in the institutions of the nation, the Election Commission of India is highly respected and I am sure they will look at it without such pressure from the Congress," he added.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma gets EC notice

Following the Congress’ demand of strict action against Sarma over his alleged remarks and "abuse of power" while campaigning for assembly by-elections, the Election Commission of India on Monday sent a notice to the Assam Chief Minister. With the notice, the EC demanded a response from the CM over his alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). In its notice to the Assam CM, the EC wrote, "The Commission has received 2 complaints, alleging that you, in the capacity of Chief Minister and the designated star campaigner for Bharatiya Janata Party, Assam have made several announcements at various election meetings."

The EC added, "The Commission is of the view that by making the statements, you have violated the said provision of Model Code of Conduct and the instructions quoted above. Now, therefore, the Commission gives you an opportunity to explain your
position in this regard on or before 1700 Hrs of 26.10.2021 (Tuesday). If no explanation is submitted within the said time limit, the Commission shall take a decision without any further reference to you."

(Image: ANI)