Assam Minister Pijush Hazarika contested the elections from Jagiroad constituency.
Guwahati:
The Congress party in Assam has moved the Election Commission, seeking cancellation of candidature of state minister Pijush Hazarika for allegedly threatening a journalist over a phone call.
A journalist in Assam, Nazrul Islam, on Thursday allegedly recorded a conversation of a call — which he claims was made from Pijush Hazarika’s personal assistant’s phone — and telecast the audio clip on an Assamese news channel. In the conversation, Mr Hazarika allegedly hurled abuses and threatened the journalist of dire consequences for a story broadcast on the same local channel previously.
Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Pijush Hazarika contested in the second phase of Assam elections from Jagiroad constituency last week.
“The contents of the conversation by Hazarika clearly violated the Model Code of Conduct, and laws such as the Representation of People Act, 1951. Under such circumstances, I pray before your honour to take prompt and necessary action against Pijush Hazarika to disqualify his candidature from the present General Assembly Election and issue directions for filing FIR/complaint against him,” Assam Congress president Ripun Bora wrote in the letter sent to the election body on Thursday.
A complaint has also been filed by the journalist at Jagiroad police station in Morigaon district against Mr Hazarika, but a case is yet to be registered.
In the audio clip of over five minutes with the journalist, the minister allegedly got angry and threatened him by saying: “I will drag you to the streets… break your leg… and nowhere kori dim (will obliterate you)”.
“He also warned Nazrul Islam allegedly for doing ‘Miya Politics’ to support the Congress and ‘Aajmal Party’ which is the AIUDF, and threatened him that he will spoil Nazrul Islam’s life,” the letter to the poll body reads. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) led by Badruddin Ajmal is a constituent of the Congress-led Grand Alliance.
The incident has put the democracy of the state under “serious threat” and the public is now under want of protection from such threats, the letter said. “That apart, the words ‘Miya Politics’, ‘Aajmal Party’ etc uttered… in the said call has directly aggravated the existing differences between the communities of the state and has created mutual hatred between them,” Mr Bora said in his letter.
The BJP candidate, in the alleged phone conversation which also surfaced on the social media, can be heard saying that he was “sad” because they reported the controversial statement of his wife Aimee Baruah made at a poll meeting a few days ago in Jagiroad.
Ms Baruah, during the poll meet, had allegedly said: “Those Bengali speaking people who have been living in Assam will not only be thrown out of the state, but also the nation if CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) is repelled here. So, to keep them here, we should support CAA.”
Her comment, however, was said to be misconstrued and a short clip of her video was shared later on Facebook in which it seemed she was saying that those who opposed the CAA will be thrown out of the country.
Media groups like the Guwahati Press Club (GPC) and Journalists Association For Assam (JAFA) have also raised concerns against Mr Hazarika.
JAFA president Abhideep Choudhury asked the media to raise its voice against Mr Hazarika while the GPC condemned the “act of intimidation in the strongest words” and said that it is very unbecoming of a public representative to threaten a journalist.
The election to the 126-member Assam Assembly has been spread over three phases with 77.2 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise in 39 constituencies in the second phase on April 1. In the first phase on March 27 around 76 per cent of voters in 30 constituencies cast their vote.
The third and final phase will be held on April 6, with votes to be counted on May 2.