Kohima, May 5 (MExN): Congress today hit out at the church and Naga organisations for “remaining numb over Lok Sabha polls which was marred by wide-scale proxy voting and poll rigging by the supporters of Naga People’s Front (NPF).”
In a rebuttal to NPF’s appreciation to church and Naga NGOs “for what it claimed large turnout by the people to cast votes on April 9 polls,” president of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), SI Jamir, according to a press statement, said, “silence of church and the NGOs will imply that they have endorsed the anti-social activities of NPF during the polls.” The Congress leader accused the church of endorsing and supporting “NPF’s nexus with BJP-a communal party.” He added that it amounts to accepting the ideologies and principles of RSS-the Hindu right wing organization.
The Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) had carried out massive Clean Election campiagn since 2013, but, the Congress chief said, that has not worked. “So far the Baptist church has turned a deaf ear to the criticisms from various quarters.”
Further, SI Jamir strongly condemned the recent violence in Assam which has claimed several innocent lives. But at the same time, he blamed the communal force for violence.
The Congress also reiterated its demand for re-poll in hundreds of polling stations which had polled over 90%. The party leaders, according to the statement, today said it would reinforce their demand for re-poll, adding that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has assured to look into the anomalies.
The statement said that Luizinho Faleiro, ex-chief minister of Goa and general secretary, AICC in a letter to the ECI said NPF had blatantly misused the power in the recently held polls by not only violating the fundamental premise of free and fair elections, but also threatened the very foundations of the constitutional provisions in a historic democracy. He urged the ECI to take all corrective measures to let the will of the people prevail in a sensitive state like Nagaland. Luizinho Faleiro, the NPCC said, demanded for declaration of the elections null and void and notification for holding fresh elections.
The Congress further claimed that since 2003, the year when Rio came to power, elections have been marred by large-scale proxy voting and poll riggings by NPF. The Opposition party cautioned that it will not depute counting agents if ECI does not take corrective measures.
Congress has convened a meeting tomorrow to chalk out further course of action. The NPCC has also written a complaint letter to the Returning Officer (RO) stating that there were more than a thousand booths which have polled more than 90% and that there were no micro observers in many polling stations which recorded more than 90%. Congress alleged that in many polling stations, only one polling agent of a political party was present though there were three candidates and many presiding officers’ reports were “scratchy and not consistent whereby many were corrected from the table of RO.” The party also insisted that presiding officers’ polling registers which records voters’ signatures and thumb impression “were suspected to be not genuine and that those should be authenticated through forensic laboratory.”
In view of the above observation, the NPCC has requested the RO to recommend re-poll in all the polling booths which polled more than 90%. The party has also demanded for viewing the web-cast and timing of the webcasting in 84 polling stations as part of scrutiny.
