India News | A Day Before Majuli By-poll, 2 of 3 Candidates Get Notice for 'violating' Model Code
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. 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.
Guwahati, Mar 6 (PTI) 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.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)