Assam Cong to demand probe against 'tainted' BJP nominees

Guwahati: The Assam Congress president, Anjan Dutta, took a dig at BJP, saying the saffron party has given tickets to many of its candidates who have criminal charges against them. His party will demand a probe against them from the next government .
Dutta told a press conference here on Monday that the Congress government in the past had gone soft in dealing with these persons.
"We are confident Congress will form the next government. So, our party will put up a strong demand before the government to conduct a thorough probe against these persons. I accept that in the past our government was soft on them. But we will not allow it to happen this time. BJP have given tickets to former rebels and those with criminal charges. Is this the parivartan BJP is seeking for Assam," Dutta alleged.
The state Congress president also said his party would demand a probe against bureaucrats, who worked in favour of BJP during the assembly elections.
"I don't want to disclose their names now. We have raised the issue with the Election Commission, too. We will demand investigation against them, too," Dutta said.
On the charges that many with criminal cases have got tickets from Congress as well and contested the assembly polls this year, Dutta, in an attempt to downplay the issue, argued that the charges against those Congress candidates were not as serious as those of the BJP candidates.
BJP, however, dismissed Dutta's allegations as an expression of frustration following "impending defeat" of the party this time. BJP leaders also said Congress was coming up with "baseless" charges only to be in the news because people in the state wanted to put an end to the Congress rule this time.
"Congress is confused and distraught because it has sensed its defeat. Dutta's charges do not deserve any comment because he is saying all these things out of utter frustration. Congress, in general, and Dutta, in particular, know very well that people's moods have changed and they have voted for change. Congress is staring at its defeat," BJP spokesperson Hitendra Nath Goswami said.