Agartala: Expressing concern over poll-related violence in the past, all the major opposition parties of Tripura have urged the State election Commission‘s Chief Electoral Officer to ensure that the ensuing by-polls are conducted amid tight security.
Leaders of all the major political parties on Friday participated in a meeting convened by Chief Electoral Officer as a part of the election process and almost all the Opposition parties expressed their concern over poll-related violence.
Speaking on the issue, CEO Kiran Gitte said, “The customary meeting of all the recognized political parties was held today. We have exchanged views with leaders of different political parties and accordingly assured them of taking all necessary efforts so that none of their grievances remain unattended.”
The CPI-M Tripura state committee has submitted an 11-point charter of demands to the Chief Electoral Officer for smooth conduct of the by-polls in four assembly constituencies.
Among the major demands was adequate security arrangements for candidates, strong rooms and other deployment of Central Paramilitary forces to avert any kind of manipulation. The CPI-M has also requested the CEO to ensure webcasting in hundred percent polling stations so that any move of booth jamming or rigging could be neutralized.
“We have seen our leaders getting attacked during poll campaigns. Polling agents of opposition parties have been forcefully ousted from the polling booths in past few elections. All the elections that took place after 2018 turned into an farcical exercise by the ruling party and their motorcycle-borne terror brigade keep intimidating the polling booth-bound voters. That must not repeat again. We have elaborately discussed our concerns and we hope the Election Department will not repeat the previous mistakes,” said CPI-M West Tripura District Secretary Ratan Das.
Apart from that, the party has also demanded that ‘Model Code of Conduct’ be extended across the West Tripura district and all the outsiders, staying in the poll-bound constituencies, should be strictly directed to leave the place before the polls.
“We have seen that the BJP has a habit of using outsiders to rig elections and the CEO should not ignore our apprehensions of the same in these elections too,” said Das.
Echoing similar views, Opposition Congress said “The last 50 months are a dark chapter in the democratic history of Tripura. We have urged the Chief Electoral Officer to play an impartial role. We have categorically said that the right to vote has to be guaranteed. Incidents of booth jamming, manipulation, rigging and poll-violence marred the previous elections right from 2019 parliamentary elections. The scars of urban body polls are still fresh. We have presented all our apprehensions in detail and the CEO has assured us of full cooperation.”
Convener of BJP’s election committee, Balai Goswami, however, declined all the allegations and said that all the political parties have exchanged their thoughts freely, which signals the healthy democratic setup of the state.
“Leaders of all political parties have explained their problems and made recommendations to make the whole election process more transparent. This is for the first time in the last 25 years, the opposition parties have been given equal space like the ruling party,” said Goswami.
Leaders of TMC, All India Forward Bloc, IPFT and other recognized parties also attended the meeting.
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