Counting of votes for two Assam RS seats delayed following Congress complaint
Guwahati Mar 31 PTI The counting of votes for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Assam for which polling was held on Thursday has been delayed following the demand of the opposition Congress to cancel the votes of five MLAs including three of the ruling BJP for allegedly violating rules The Congress also suspended its MLA Siddeque Ahmed for not following the procedure intentionally violating the whipSeniors leaders including AICC in charge of Assam Jitendra Singh Abhishekh Manu Singhvi and state party president Bhupen Kumar Bora in a video conference urged the Chief Election Commissioner to cancel votes of the five MLAs and take action against them for violating the election rules party spokesperson Manjit Mahanta said The Congress has demanded action against its MLA Sashikanta Das who was suspended earlier BPF legislator Durgadas Boro and three BJP MLAs – Hitendra Nath Goswami Ganesh Limbu and Sanjay KishanDas who was suspended by the party in December had on Tuesday said he will vote for the ruling BJP-led coalition candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls for the cause of development The Congress submitted video and documentary evidence alleging defiance of the party whip of its suspended legislator and violation of election rules by the other MLAs the spokesperson said The returning officer is waiting for directives from the CEC to begin the counting process The polling for the two Rajya Sabha seats concluded at 4 pm but the counting of votes scheduled to begin at 5 pm was delayed following the complaint by the CongressThree candidates two from the BJP-led ruling alliance and one from the Congress as the joint opposition nominee are in the fray for the two seats The BJPs Pabitra Margherita is contesting for the first seat while its alliance partner UPPLs Rwngra Narzary and Congress candidate and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora were battling for the secondMargheritas victory is assured while Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged all Congress MLAs to vote for the candidate of the ruling alliance for the second seatMLAs take part in the Rajya Sabha election as members of the Upper House of Parliament are elected by legislators in state assemblies It is an election through proportional representation In the 126-member state assembly the ruling NDA has 79 seats with 63 from the BJP nine from AGP and seven from the UPPL Among the opposition parties there are 27 MLAs from the Congress 15 from AIUDF three from BPF and one from the CPIM while there is an independent candidate The BPF has lent its support to the government in the assembly but is yet to enter into a political alliance formallyThe two seats for which elections were conducted were held by Congress leaders Bora and Ranee Narah Meanwhile state Congress president Bhupen Bora suspended the partys Karimganj South MLA Siddeque Ahmed from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect for intentionally disobeying the three-line whip issued by the partys Chief Whip Wazed Ali ChoudhuryThere are seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam Three of them are held by the BJP and one by its alliance partner AGP The Congress and an independent member hold the three other seats PTI DG NN NN
Guwahati Mar 31 PTI The counting of votes for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Assam for which polling was held on Thursday has been delayed following the demand of the opposition Congress to cancel the votes of five MLAs including three of the ruling BJP for allegedly violating rules The Congress also suspended its MLA Siddeque Ahmed for not following the procedure intentionally violating the whipSeniors leaders including AICC in charge of Assam Jitendra Singh Abhishekh Manu Singhvi and state party president Bhupen Kumar Bora in a video conference urged the Chief Election Commissioner to cancel votes of the five MLAs and take action against them for violating the election rules party spokesperson Manjit Mahanta said The Congress has demanded action against its MLA Sashikanta Das who was suspended earlier BPF legislator Durgadas Boro and three BJP MLAs – Hitendra Nath Goswami Ganesh Limbu and Sanjay KishanDas who was suspended by the party in December had on Tuesday said he will vote for the ruling BJP-led coalition candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls for the cause of development The Congress submitted video and documentary evidence alleging defiance of the party whip of its suspended legislator and violation of election rules by the other MLAs the spokesperson said The returning officer is waiting for directives from the CEC to begin the counting process The polling for the two Rajya Sabha seats concluded at 4 pm but the counting of votes scheduled to begin at 5 pm was delayed following the complaint by the CongressThree candidates two from the BJP-led ruling alliance and one from the Congress as the joint opposition nominee are in the fray for the two seats The BJPs Pabitra Margherita is contesting for the first seat while its alliance partner UPPLs Rwngra Narzary and Congress candidate and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora were battling for the secondMargheritas victory is assured while Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged all Congress MLAs to vote for the candidate of the ruling alliance for the second seatMLAs take part in the Rajya Sabha election as members of the Upper House of Parliament are elected by legislators in state assemblies It is an election through proportional representation In the 126-member state assembly the ruling NDA has 79 seats with 63 from the BJP nine from AGP and seven from the UPPL Among the opposition parties there are 27 MLAs from the Congress 15 from AIUDF three from BPF and one from the CPIM while there is an independent candidate The BPF has lent its support to the government in the assembly but is yet to enter into a political alliance formallyThe two seats for which elections were conducted were held by Congress leaders Bora and Ranee Narah Meanwhile state Congress president Bhupen Bora suspended the partys Karimganj South MLA Siddeque Ahmed from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect for intentionally disobeying the three-line whip issued by the partys Chief Whip Wazed Ali ChoudhuryThere are seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam Three of them are held by the BJP and one by its alliance partner AGP The Congress and an independent member hold the three other seats PTI DG NN NN
