NPCC WRITES TO CEO TO PREVENT ATTEMPTS FOR ‘BOOTH-CAPTURING’
All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Malikarjun Kharge is to address a public rally in Supermarket area (Naga Shopping Arcade), Dimapur on Tuesday at 12 noon.
This was informed at a press conference at Congress Bhavan here Monday by Girish Chodankar, AICC in-charge of Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim and Tripura. He said the state unit’s entire machinery was geared up for the event.
Chodankar called on all peace-loving public who desire a change of government at Delhi and who want a voice in Parliament, to join the rally.
He expressed confidence that the Congress will form the next government at the Centre and that Nagaland will be part of the effort by contributing an elected member to it.
He assured that if voted, the Congress candidate from Nagaland would secure a cabinet berth in the event Congress returned to power at the Centre.
Chodankar claimed that the party has received overwhelming support from the people with many unhappy with the BJP government. He claimed there was strong anti-incumbency and anger among the people against BJP, even among parties that were part of the BJP alliance.
He assured that Congress will work to safeguard the Constitution of India, its values, and the idea of India and expressed confidence that people of Nagaland would vote for the INDIA alliance candidate.
“We are getting reliable inputs that the ruling government may resort to booth capturing because they are apprehensive that the INDI Alliance is winning. They are completely frustrated, they are trying to win the election by all illegal means,” Chodankar claimed.
He termed the recent controversy surrounding deputy chief minister Y Patton’s appeal for unethical voting as a secret plan of the government being spilled out casually during a meeting.
Chodankar said the matter did not end there as Congress had received inputs through individuals and agencies that the state government along with the BJP was working out strategies for booth capturing.
“We got to know that the process has already started two days back. They have put the money and system into play,” he alleged,
Despite Election Commission of India’s (ECI) call for a free and fair election and a centralised monitoring system, he alleged that the government was attempting to capture booths.
He expressed the hope that the state’s chief electoral officer (CEO) will take the matter very seriously, and ensure that there were no incidents of booth capturing.
Chodankar appealed village committees and villagers to be on the alert against booth-capturing attempts and reiterated that the electors should be allowed to exercise their franchise.
“We are going to appeal to the ECI along with the central leaders to stop booth capturing attempts,” he said.
Chodankar also assured that the Congress would abide by the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha elections and appealed to all parties to do the same.
He alleged that in several constituencies preparations were on for “boot capturing”, such as- 1 Dimapur-1 A/C; 2 Dimapur-II A/C; 3 Dimapur- III A/C; 4 Ghaspani-1 A/C; 5 Ghaspani-II A/C; 9 Kohima Town A/C; 11 Northern Angami-II A/C; 19 Phek A/C; 20 Meluri A/C; 37 Tyui A/C; 38 Wokha A/C and 29 Jangpetkong A/C. He also suggested installation of CCTVs to be centrally monitored by ECI.
NPCC had also submitted a letter to the CEO requesting for prevention of “booth capturing on the polling day i.e. April 19, 2024”.
Chodankar alleged that BJP national president JP Nadda’s visit to Nagaland confirmed that the coalition government was fully controlled by BJP and was hand-in-glove with it.
He also urged upon people to reflect on how minorities were attacked in different parts of the country and why Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited every state except Manipur. He accused the BJP of being responsible for the Manipur situation.
“People of Nagaland are aware how Congress has contributed to the country. People of Nagaland will respond to what is happening in Manipur. It is the responsibility of the people to give a strong message to the BJP,” stated Chodankar.
Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Khriedi Theünuo, who was also present, reiterated that the Congress was a secular party and extended invitation to the NGOs and church organisations to join the rally.