Guwahati, 11th June: Congress candidate Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury, who narrowly lost the Karimganj Lok Sabha seat to BJP’s sitting MP Kripanath Mallah by 18,360 votes, announced on Monday his intention to approach the Gauhati High Court. Choudhury plans to contest the discrepancies between the number of votes recorded on polling day and those counted.
Alongside the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has also called for an investigation and a repoll in the Barak Valley constituency of Assam. According to the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam’s website, 11,36,538 people voted in the second phase of elections on April 26, excluding service voters. However, the result sheet (Form 20) indicates that 11,40,349 votes were counted on EVMs, revealing an unexplained surplus.
Choudhury highlighted that the higher number of votes counted than polled spans across the six assembly constituencies of Hailakandi, Algapur-Katlicherra, Karimganj North, Karimganj South, Patharkandi, and Ram Krishna Nagar.
At a press conference, Choudhury alleged significant rigging orchestrated by local BJP MLAs, claiming voters were intimidated with threats of house demolitions if they didn’t vote for BJP. Despite filing 19 complaints on polling day about rigging, Choudhury stated that neither the Election Commission nor local authorities intervened.
Choudhury also noted that the Congress had preemptively raised concerns about potential rigging by the ruling BJP and requested the Election Commission to ensure a fair voting process. Despite these efforts, Choudhury received more votes than anticipated. He pointed out that the discrepancy of 3,811 votes, although insufficient to alter the election outcome, suggested larger anomalies.
Choudhury plans to petition the Gauhati High Court for a repoll in the entire Karimganj constituency, citing “serious anomalies” by the Election Commission and local administration. He also urged that the winning certificate for Mallah be withheld until a court verdict is reached, questioning how additional votes could have been inserted into EVMs post-polling.
Repeated attempts to contact Assam CEO Anurag Goel for a response on the discrepancies went unanswered. Other officials from the CEO’s office declined to comment, stating they were not authorized to do so.
CPI (M) state secretary Suprakash Talukdar criticized the Election Commission for its inaction regarding the rigging allegations and demanded an impartial inquiry and a repoll in the constituency.
In the recent elections for Assam’s 14 Lok Sabha seats, nine were won by BJP MPs, while its allies AGP and UPPL each secured one seat. The Congress retained three seats.
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