BTC polls: GSP chief Naba Sarania detained; released on bail

GUWAHATI:

Lok Sabha MP and Gana Suraksha Party president, Naba Kumar Sarania was detained by police in Kokrajhar district late Tuesday night for allegedly violating the model code of conduct but released on bail on Wednesday morning.

Reports state that a complaint was lodged at Salakati police outpost alleging that Sarania, who is the chief of Gana Suraksha Party, one of the political parties contesting the BTC polls, had distributed money among people to “buy votes”.

Sources said that police first kept Sarania at the Salakati police outpost but later shifted him to the Kokrajhar Police Station.

The incident took place on the final day of campaigning for the second phase of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections in Assam,

Denying the allegations, Sarania said instead termed the development as a conspiracy to scuttle his poll prospects.

The GSP chief alleged that he and his accomplices were gheraoed and attacked by miscreants after having dinner at the residence of an acquaintance at Salakati in Kokrajhar district on Tuesday night.

“I do not need to distribute money to buy votes. People will vote from their conscience. Such an attack is uncalled for,” he told reporters in Kokrakhar after his release on bail on Wednesday morning.

Second phase

Meanwhile, the stage is set for the second phase of BTC polls in 19 constituencies across Kokrajhar and Chirang districts on Thursday.

As many as 10,23,404 voters are poised to exercise their franchise to decide the future of 111 candidates across 1,407 polling stations in the two districts.

Going by the high voter turnout (77.01 per cent) during the first phase polling across 21 seats in Baksa and Udalguri districts on Monday, the second phase is likely to witness a similar trend as well.

The counting for both the phases will be held on December 12.

Of the total 3,164 polling booths, authorities have marked 606 as very sensitive and 1,266 as sensitive amid high security.

The past few weeks have seen a high-decibel poll campaign by major parties across the four BTC districts.

(Edited by Andre Kongri)

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