Guwahati, March 18: Opposition parties in Assam have accused the BJP-led government of violating the model code of conduct (MCC) which came into force after the parliamentary elections across the country were announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday evening.
In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Rajiv Kumar, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah sought appropriate action against the alleged MCC violation by the state government.
“This is to bring to your notice that despite the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) coming into force, the Government of Assam has not yet removed advertisements and publicity material with the photographs of PM, CM, etc,” Borah wrote in the letter to the CEC.
“This is a gross violation of the Model Code of Conduct. You are hereby requested to take appropriate action immediately,” he stated.
In a similar letter to the CEC on Monday, Assam Trinamool Congress president Ripun Bora accused the state government of violating the MCC even after it came into effect on Saturday evening.
“But there are still visible huge numbers of hoardings across the state of Assam bearing different advertisements of the government with photographs of the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Assam, etc. Therefore, you are requested to direct the Assam government to remove all the government advertisements with photographs of the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Assam, etc immediately,” Bora wrote to the CEC.
Polling in the 14 parliamentary seats of Assam will take place in three phases – on April 19, April 26 and May 7, 2024. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4, the ECI announced on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Assam chief electoral officer Anurag Goel on Sunday said that the election department was all geared up for the Lok Sabha elections in the state, beginning with the first phase polls in five constituencies on April 19.
An electorate of 2,43,01960 (12179358 male voters and 12122602 female voters) will cast their votes across 28,645 polling stations in the state during the three-phase poll that commences immediately after the Bohag Bihu festival. As many as 435503 voters are new voters, in the 18 to 19 years’ age category.