Gauhati HC issues notices to BJP MP, EC, returning officer over LS poll results

Guwahati, July 22 (IANS) The Gauhati High Court on Monday issued notices to BJP’s Lok Sabha member Kripanath Mallah, the Election Commission of India (ECI), and a returning officer in response to a petition filed by defeated Congress candidate Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury.A single-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi summoned Mallah, the EC, and the returning officer for the next hearing of the petition on August 19.In his petition, Choudhury challenged the results of the Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency, where he was defeated by BJP’s Kripanath Mallah by a margin of 18,360 votes.Seeking the election to be declared null and void, Choudhury alleged that the BJP candidate indulged in multiple “corrupt practices” both while campaigning as well as on the day of elections, including widespread rigging, booth capturing, voter intimidation through undue influence and bribery, etc.On the day of polling on April 26, the petitioner’s legal team head Gautam Choudury continuously filed complaints with the ECI via email, flagging the “specific cases of rigging and booth capturing” across 20 polling stations.Choudhury’s election agent had also submitted a complaint on the day of the polling, detailing the “corrupt electoral practices” in 31 polling stations.The petition alleges booth capturing across 47 polling stations, which account for almost double the number of votes than the margin between the two candidates.–IANSsc/arm