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India
pti-PTI
Agartala, Nov 25: Claiming that widespread rigging and voter intimidation marred the carefully contested elections to civic our bodies held on Thursday, opposition events – CPI(M) and the TMC – demanded the polls which witnessed over 81 per cent voting, be countermanded.
Officers mentioned an estimated 81.54 per cent of over 4.93 lakh voters exercised their franchise in Thursday’s elections to Tripura’s 14 civic our bodies regardless of the allegations of malpractices.
The ruling BJP, which has fielded candidates in all seats in Tripura civic elections, has already received 112 out of the overall 334 seats uncontested within the Agartala Municipal Company (AMC) and 19 city our bodies.
The electoral battle noticed the ruling BJP locked in battle with the Trinamool Congress which is foraying into the Northeast and elsewhere to determine itself as a nationwide occasion, and with the CPI(M) which the saffron occasion had dethroned from energy on this state some years in the past.
Regardless of allegations by the opposition of wide-spread malpractices, officers claimed no conflict or voting machine-related drawback was reported from poll-bound areas.
Members of the 2 opposition events, nevertheless, alleged that folks had been attacked and stopped from casting their votes by “goons” owing allegiance to the ruling BJP.
TMC chief Subal Bhowmik, who staged a sit-in right here with different occasion staff, accused the State Election Fee of favouring the ruling occasion.
He emphasised that all the election needs to be countermanded as “sales space jamming and different intimidatory ways” had been used to forestall voters from exercising their franchise.
“Folks’s verdict won’t be mirrored when the outcomes are introduced. Unfair means had been used to conduct the voting course of. The police and election fee officers sided with the ruling occasion, so we demand that all the election be countermanded,” he instructed reporters.
Bhowmik, who can also be the state convener of the TMC steering committee, additional mentioned, “residences of a number of TMC candidates had been attacked final (Wednesday) evening and makes an attempt had been made to set their homes on hearth. At the very least 5 occasion members had been attacked and plenty of supporters had been prevented from casting their votes. The police merely stood by as silent spectators.”
Echoing him, leaders of the opposition CPI(M) additionally mentioned that polls had been rigged by ruling occasion’s “goons.”
Tripura Left Entrance convener Narayan Kar mentioned safety forces weren’t mobilised correctly, regardless of instructions to that finish by the Supreme Courtroom.
The Left Entrance sought recent polls in Agartala Municipal Company and 4 municipal councils — Dharmanagar, Khowai, Belonia and Melaghar.
“The state election fee and the police completely surrendered earlier than the ruling occasion. The DGP is a black sheep, as underneath his management, elections had been blatantly rigged with no regard for the directives of the Supreme Courtroom,” Kar mentioned.
CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury alleged that the voting course of was lowered to a “farce”.
“I’ve by no means witnessed such mayhem throughout civic elections. Regardless of lodging a number of complaints with the SEC, no measure was taken to carry free and truthful elections,” Chowdhury instructed reporters.
One other chief of the CPI(M), Phulon Bhattacharjee, mentioned voters had been threatened of penalties if discovered coming into polling cubicles.
“In my lengthy political profession, I’ve by no means seen such anarchy. Voters are being brazenly threatened…” she exclaimed.
The ruling BJP, nevertheless, denied all allegations.
“The TMC and the CPI (M) are making baseless allegations as they know properly that they might be defeated. Elections had been held in a festive spirit,” BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya mentioned.
BJP which was worsted on the hustings by the TMC in West Bengal earlier this 12 months is underneath a “sort of siege” based on analysts who level out that the TMC is making an attempt to achieve a foothold in states like Goa, Tripura and Meghalaya the place the BJP or BJP supported governments are in energy.
For TMC a robust footprint in Agartala and elsewhere within the northeastern state is important because it hopes to topple BJP in Tripura’s state election in 2023 and likewise emerge as a robust opposition to the BJP on a nationwide scale. TMC which has additionally forayed into Goa and Meghalaya was strengthened Thursday with 12 Congress MLAs becoming a member of it in Shillong.
Polling was held in 222 seats throughout six nagar panchayats, seven municipal councils and Agartala Municipal Company in Tripura. Votes shall be counted on November 28.
The Supreme Courtroom had on Thursday directed the Union Ministry of House Affairs to supply two further firms of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to safe the polling cubicles throughout the Tripura civic polls.
The run-up to the elections noticed TMC youth chief Saayoni Ghosh, arrested on expenses of felony intimidation try and homicide, and promotion of disharmony on Sunday after she raised the occasion’s ‘khela hobe’ (recreation shall be performed) slogan exterior a gathering being addressed by the state Chief Minister Biplab Deb.
A delegation of TMC MPs had additionally met Union House Minister Amit Shah on Monday alleging police violence in Tripura after a sit-in in entrance of the house ministry. PTI JOY RMS JRC JRC
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