ECI Relief to Himanta Biswa Sarma, Campaigning Ban Reduced to 24 Hrs from 48 Hrs

GUWAHATI: The Election Commission of India has decided to modify its order of debarment of conducting the election campaign of Himanata Biswa Sarma from 48 hours to 24 hours.

The development comes after the said minister made an appeal to the Commission to modify the original ban order and also assured of abiding by MCC in future.

The minister also pleaded on the grounds of being a candidate in the constituency which is scheduled for a poll on April 6th 2021.

Earlier the Election Commission has barred Himanta Biswa Sarma from holding any public meetings, rallies, roadshows, interviews etc for 48 hours over his remarks against BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary.

In its official notification, the EC said that Sarma's reply to the show-cause notice, which was issued earlier, was "not found to be satisfactory".

Hence while condemning Sarma's statement, under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, the EC has taken the step to ban the BJP leader from further campaigning with immediate effect.

ECI secretary Ajay Kumar Verma said that Sarma has "violated" the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct, which came into force on February 26, 2021.

The ECI directive was in response to a complaint lodged by Congress saying that Sarma during a campaign rally had 'threatened' BPF leader Hagrama Mohilary and also spoke about using the NIA to investigate him. BPF is an ally of the Congress-led Grand Alliance or Mahajot.

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