Agartala: Former Tripura Chief Minister and CPI(M) politburo member Manik Sarkar on Saturday said that the elections held in the state should not be judged as a yardstick to assess the national political scenario in the run up to Lok Sabha elections. He alleged that large-scale rigging, booth capturing and intimidation marred the spirit of the by-elections concluded recently in the two assembly constituencies of Sepahijala district.
Addressing a hall convention organised by the Scheduled Caste arm of the opposition CPI(M), Sarkar said, “None of the elections held in recent times in the state are fair. The BJP-sponsored rigging at polling stations turned the whole process into a farcical exercise. Have you ever heard, a candidate winning the elections with a margin of 30,000 votes in the entire electoral history of the state? But, this has happened in the just concluded assembly elections. I don’t need to elaborate further on what has happened.”
Manik Sarkar contends that if the elections had been conducted in a fair and unbiased manner, the BJP would have experienced a resounding defeat in both of the assembly constituencies.
Sarkar added that at the national level, all major opposition parties have united to challenge the BJP, causing concern for the ruling party as their support base is dwindling rapidly, making it difficult for them to secure victory without external incidents like Pulwama in 2019.
Sarkar also urged the workers of his party to launch a massive outreach programme for mass reconnection with the voters who are yearning for a change. “For political change of guard to happen, we also have to work meticulously. Seat adjustment and calculations based on the previous voting trends would never reflect into the ballot box,” Sarkar pointed out.
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CPI(M) state Secretary Jitendra Choudhury, on the other hand, took a swipe at Agartala Municipal Corporation for the exorbitant hike in property taxes in city areas. “Property taxes are increased in the city areas as an experimental basis. If they get through with it, the tax rates would be revised in the other urban local bodies as well. The government has nothing to do with the struggle of the commoners,” he claimed.
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