Kokrajhar: Amid
reports of peaceful voting in the first phase of Bodoland Territorial Council
(BTC) polls, The Bodoland People's Front (BPF) BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary has
accused of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of rigging at the Shuklai Sarphang
voting center.
The BPF chief has sought repoll in case the rigging
allegations are true.
Mohilary said," We have heard that BJP has done vote-rigging in Shuklai Sarphang voting center. If it is true, then repoll is a must. We will claim for repoll."
Reacting to the accusations, Assam BJP president Ranjit
Das denied any such instance of rigging but also said that in case any such
thing has happened then a repoll is a must.
Das thanked the district administrations of Baksa and
Udalguri for conducting the polls for 21 seats of BTC peacefully.
The BJP leader said that a few stray incidents might have taken place but overall, the first phase of BTC elections has been peaceful and BJP would win 15-16 of the 21 seats in these two districts.
The BPF leader is also confident enough that BPF would
win 16 of the 21 seats in Udalguri and Baksa and another 15 of the 19 seats in
Chirang and Kokrajhar.
Elections are being held for a total of 40 BTC seats.
The first phase of the BTC poll for 21 seats was held
on Monday in the two districts of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) – Udalguri
and Baksa abiding all Covid 19 safety measures and tight security. The
temperature of the voters was checked and their hands were sanitized before
entering the polling center.
The second phase of BTC elections will take place on
December 10 in Kokrajhar and Chirang.
The counting of votes is scheduled for December 12.
The prime contenders of the BTC elections are the BPF
and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BPF's Chief Hagrama Mohilary has been ruling
the council since its inception in 2003. While BJP is contesting 26 of a total 40
seats, BPF is contesting 37 seats.