SHILLONG: In a major jolt to the BJP’s charge-sheet against various lapses of the Congress, the Election Department has asked the BJP to stop circulation of the booklet containing the charge sheet.
In a letter to the state president of the BJP, Chief Electoral Officer FR Kharkongor said the booklet appears to have been published by the BJP without indicating the names and details of the printer, along with the name and details of the publisher as per the Election Commission guidelines.
“Prima facie, there appears to be a contravention of the provisions of Section 127 A (1) and (2) of the Representation of the People’s Act, 1951.
The Section 127 A (1) states that no person will print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any election pamphlet or poster that does not bear on its face the names and addresses of the printer and the publisher.
The Section 127 A (2) says that no person will print or cause to be printed any election pamphlet or poster unless a declaration as to the identity of the publisher, signed by him and attested by two persons to whom he is personally known, is delivered by him to the printer in duplicate.
The CEO shot off the letter on February 14 and sent another letter to the BJP on Friday asking the party to show cause as to why action should not be initiated for violation of the provisions of the RP Act. It asked the BJP to send the reply to the CEO’s office before 5pm on Saturday.
The 38-page charge-sheet titled ’15 years of loot, 15 years of destruction’ was released by Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons in the city last week.
The charge-sheet contains allegations of corruption against the Mukul Sangma-led government and named some members of the Cabinet, including Ampareen Lyngdoh.
