Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Jan 9: Denying allegation that he was a signatory to an “election expense agreement” for Rs 11 crore which had allegedly been spent on candidate Goruk Pordung in the last election to the Bameng assembly constituency in East Kameng district, Pordung Welfare Society (PWS) chairman Akhiya Pordung on Thursday asked the accuser to come out with the details of the expenses of the alleged amount.
The husband of the lady doctor who was allegedly raped by the Bameng MLA had during a press conference here in early October last year claimed that Akhiya was a signatory to an “agreement of election expenditure” between him (the accuser) and now Bameng MLA Goruk Pordung, wherein, the husband claimed, he spent nearly Rs 11 crore to get Goruk elected.
“During the press conference (held at the Arunachal Press Club), he (the husband of the alleged rape victim) claimed that he financed Rs 11 crore to Bameng MLA Goruk Pordung during election. I want the copies of his claims, where and how he spent that Rs 11 crore” Akhiya said during a press conference at the press club on Thursday, and denied the claim that he was aware of the election expenses.
“He should come out with full details of his expenditure – whom he paid, where he spent that amount – so that I can cross-check his claims. On my part, I did not receive a single paisa,” Akhiya claimed.
He said that although he did sign on an agreement “as a witness” after being “pressurized,” he neither received “a single penny” from the accuser nor was he aware of any expenses claimed by the accuser.
“The Election Commission has put a ceiling of expenditure in assembly election, which is at Rs 20 lakhs only. If anyone spends more than that, he or she is criminally liable for that,” Akhiya said.
Asked by journalists about the rape allegation against the Bameng MLA, Akhiya said, “The Pordung society would not like to comment anything on the merits or demerits of the alleged rape case, since the matter is in the court. Let the court decide. Whatever judgment comes out, we would respect the court’s decision.”
He added that the PWS “is ready to resolve the issue at the society level, if the counterpart is ready.”
