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Guwahati: The Asom
Gana Parishad (AGP) Sunday made the bizarre demand for a re-poll
using traditional ballots, saying that the Congress had rigged the
electronic voting machines (EVMs) to win the Assam elections for
the third straight time.
"Definitely there should be a re-election by way of ballots as we
strongly believe the Congress party tampered and manipulated the
electronic voting machines," two-time former chief minister and
AGP founder president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told journalists.
"We have formally apprised the Election Commission seeking a
re-election in Assam," he said.
The Congress party, led by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, pulled off
an emphatic hat-trick by winning 78 of the 126 assembly seats
Friday. Its ally, the Bodoland People's Party, (BPF) won 12 seats.
The AGP, which ruled Assam twice in 1985 and 1989, was decimated
and managed to win just 10 seats this time, 14 less then what it
had bagged in the 2006 assembly polls.
The other main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), won
five seats, five less then what it got last time.
Among the prominent losers were AGP president Chandra Mohan
Patowary and BJP state president Ranjit Dutta - both losing to the
Congress. Even Mahanta lost in one of the two seats he contested
from.
"How could the Congress candidates win with such huge margins,"
questioned Mahanta.
But Mahanta failed to give a convincing answer when asked how he
won from one seat and nine other AGP candidates also emerged
victorious.
"No, they (Congress) manipulated the EVMs in the other seats," the
former chief minister said.
But the BJP rejected any such theories and conceded defeat.
"We respect the mandate of the people and maybe we failed to reach
out to the voters," BJP state president Ranjit Dutta told
journalists.
The Congress simply ridiculed Mahanta's comments.
"By blaming EVMs and accusing us of manipulating, Mahanta is
turning to be a big clown, nothing less then a comic character," a
senior Congress leader said.
"Such statements are nothing but frustration and reflect how
immature Mahanta and the other AGP leaders are," he added.
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