Senior AGP leader Atul Bora addresses the media in Guwahati on Wednesday. (PTI)

Guwahati, July 21: In a significant ruling, Gauhati High Court today ordered repoll in two booths of Dispur Assembly constituency from which social welfare minister Akon Bora was elected to the Assam Assembly in the 2006 elections.

A single judge bench of Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari passed the order in connection with an election petition (EP 2/2006) filed by Atul Bora, a member of the steering committee of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), who had contested the 2006 elections as a Trinamool Gana Parishad (TGP) candidate.

Akon Bora had won the seat as a Congress candidate by defeating his nearest rival Atul Bora by a margin of 813 votes.

Reacting to the verdict, Atul Bora said two electronic voting machines (EVMs) of polling station number 196 at Digaru and station number 164 at Dispur of the 52 Dispur Assembly constituency had developed technical snags during counting, following which 2,160 votes in the EVMs could not be counted.

“At that time also, we had demanded repoll in these two polling stations. But our demand was rejected by the returning officer and the result was declared without counting the votes in the two EVMs, as a result of which we had to move the high court, seeking justice,” he said.

“Following today’s verdict, the 2006 election result for the Dispur constituency stands void,” Atul Bora said.

He said the result could have swung in his favour as the two EVMs contained 2,160 votes and the winning margin was only 813 votes.

Advocate Bijon Mahajan, the chairman of AGP’s legal cell, said, “The court has directed repoll in the two polling stations and we will be able to give further details only after receiving the certified copy of the order tomorrow.”

AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary demanded resignation of Akon Bora, saying after the court verdict the social welfare minister had no moral right to remain in the government.

Patowary alleged that the Congress had misused the government machinery and manipulated EVMs to win the 2006 Assembly polls.

He also expressed apprehension that the Congress may try to tamper with the EVMs to win next year’s Assembly elections as well.