Two days ahead of the third phase of the Assam Assembly election, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) on Sunday moved the Supreme Court seeking postponement of polling in the Tamulpur constituency.
Tamulpur is scheduled to vote on Tuesday – the third and final phase of the Assembly election.
The BPF moved the top court after its candidate – Rangja Khungur Basumatary – defected to the BJP less than a week before voting and after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
On Friday BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary wrote his second letter, in as many days, to the Election Commission, and asked for permission to change the BPF’s candidate for the Tamulpur seat.
“Since the candidate nominated by my party has changed his political allegiance barely a few days before polling through illegal inducements including bribery, he is no longer entitled to receive the votes under the BPF symbol,” Mohilary said in his letter.
He also said Basumatary’s defection after the last date of withdrawal of nomination was an “act of fraud” that violated the “core requirement of fairness in elections”.
“… in the interest of free and fair elections… this honourable commission is requested to consider permitting the BPF to immediately change its candidate from Tamulpur… and to allot the party symbol to a new candidate, so as not to deny voters…. the right and freedom to vote,” he said.