Guwahati: On the eve of by-polls in Assam’s Majuli assembly constituency, the returning officer on Sunday slapped notices to two out of the total three candidates in the fray over alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) candidate Chittaranjan Basumatary and SUCI(C) nominee Bhaity Richong have been accused of uploading social media posts through their or their parties’ accounts after campaigning ended at 5 pm on Saturday.
The two candidates were asked to submit their written explanation by 9 pm on Sunday.
The AJP said that Basumatary, in his reply, apologised unconditionally for the inadvertent mistake.
“We were not aware that campaigning cannot be done through digital media too after the end of formal campaigning. As soon as the matter was brought to our attention by the notice, we deleted the posts,” an AJP spokesperson said.
Richong or his party, the SUCI(C), could not be contacted.
The island constituency goes to the polls on Monday, with BJP’s Bhuban Gam being the third candidate.
An estimated 1.33 lakh people are eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election which was necessitated by the resignation of Union Minister for Shipping, Ports and Aysuh Sarbananda Sonowal, who was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on September 27.
The former chief minister was elected to the assembly from the Majuli constituency for two consecutive terms in 2016 and 2021.
Congress workers participate in rally seeking justice for Anish Khan