Congress names four candidates for Assam bypolls
Guwahati (PTI): The Congress announced the names of four candidates for the upcoming bypolls in five assembly constituencies in Assam scheduled for next month.
The bypolls will be held in Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali and Samaguri, which became vacant after the representatives won in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Sunday named candidates for Dholai, Sidli, Bongaigaon and Samaguri.
Out of the five seats, only Samaguri was previously held by Congress leader Rakibul Hussain, whose son Tanzil has been named as the party's candidate.
The AICC also announced Dhrubajyoti Purakayastha for Dholai, Sanjib Warle for Sidli, and Brajenjit Sinha for the Bongaigaon seat.
The Congress left the Behali seat for the united opposition alliance, which has nominated Bibek Das of CPI(ML).
However, some local Congress leaders in Behali have opposed the decision and expressed a desire to nominate their own candidate. As a result, the state leadership has communicated with the central committee to make a final decision regarding the seat.
The BJP on Saturday released the names of its three candidates for the bypolls -- Nihar Ranjan Das (Dholai), Diganta Ghatowar (Behali) and Diplu Ranjan Sarma (Samaguri).
Bongaigaon and Sidli will be contested by BJP's allies AGP and UPPL, respectively, and the names of the candidates are yet to be announced.
Polling is set for November 13, with results to be counted on November 23.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
