The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) on 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 on Friday. Its ally, the Bodoland People’s Party, (BPF) won 12 seats.
“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.
Full Article: The Assam Tribune Online.