People trying to influence Chhattisgarh Assembly elections using unfair means: Congress

The Congress Tuesday alleged that some people were trying to influence the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections by using unfair means and urged the Election Commission to take immediate action against them.

A Congress delegation headed by the party's in-charge in Chhattisgarh, P L Punia, met Election Commission officials and handed over a memorandum to them, demanding immediate intervention and action on its part.

In the memorandum, the party alleged that the BJP candidate from the Samri Assembly constituency in the state "has been found distributing cash, electronic voting machines have been found in Chirmiri in the Manendragarh seat and police have seized a number of EVMs from the headmaster of a government high school".

"Both the incidents point to insidious attempts on the part of certain individuals to infiltrate and influence the outcome of the ongoing elections in Chhattisgarh," the memorandum read.

"The Election Commission of India has maintained that the integrity of EVMs is beyond reproach. This begs the questions why is a government servant (the headmaster) found to be in unauthorised possession of EVMs. That too in an on-going election.

"We request that the use of EVMs be put under review while the EC examines the matter and arrives at a conclusive finding," the memorandum read.

Given the egregious nature of the act, we request that the BJP candidate is suspended with immediate effect pending an inquiry, Punia said.

Congress spokesperson and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev said the party has filed a complaint with the EC.

"It is shocking that a candidate of the BJP was caught distributing cash before the day of the polling. An FIR has been filed and the EC has assured us that action will be taken," she said.