Agartala: Thousands of supporters of opposition CPI-M and Congress, led by the leader of the opposition, former Chief Minister of Tripura and veteran communist leader Manik Sarkar, former Chief Minister Samir Ranjan Barman and All India Congress Committee Secretary Dr Ajoy Kumar, stormed the streets of Agartala on Saturday for assurance to secure the voting right of the people in the state.
All the top leaders of both parties including the Convener of Left Front Narayan Kar, Congress President Birjit Sinha, senior Congress leader MLA Sudip Roybarman, CPI-M State Secretary Jitendra Choudhury walked together holding the national flag and wearing various placards seeking measures to ensure a free, fair, and peaceful election to the assembly and finally met the state election officials on deputation to press for the demand.
Talking to media Sarkar alleged, “Tripura has been holding multi-party elections since 1977 but never witnessed such a situation ever before. From the first of office, the BJP government has been attacking leaders, MLAs, and supporters of the opposition parties, destroying their offices with the indulgence of the ministers and leaders. None of the elections after 2018 was free and fair – opposition parties couldn’t even submit the nominations.”
Unfortunately, the state administration and police have not taken any steps against the accused people despite a series of specific complaints; rather, false cases with fabricated charges were implicated against the complainants. As many as 48 media persons were assaulted, six popular news channels were shut down and five media outlets were ransacked from the BJP rally in broad daylight in presence of police in five years but no action, Sarkar claimed.
“More than 2500 major incidents of attacks on the opposition were reported to police in five years, a large number of innocent supporters of other parties were murdered, over a hundred rape and gang-rape were committed by the ruling party cadres, over 300 offices of opposition parties have been vandalized, more than 500 youths were suffered badly for making social media posts criticizing the misrule of BJP led government. Now people want respite from the obnoxious situation,” alleged former CM Samir Ranjan Barman in the rally.
The CPI-M state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury and Congress president Birjit Sinha said, “People of Tripura had voted BJP to power in 2018 for better governance and development keeping faith in their poll promises. As soon as they came to power, the government snatched away the rights and liberties of the people, no employment, massive corruption, and there was competition among the ministers and leaders for looting out the public exchequer along with barbaric violence.”
The Congress MLA and the main architect of the stitching coalition between Congress and CPI-M Sudip Roybarman observed that over four years Biplab Kumar Deb and his team tortured the people and destroyed all the democratic institutions by sponsoring violence and indulging in corruption.
Seven months ago, a known gentleman of the city Dr Manik Saha became the CM and people thought it a relief. But he utterly failed to improve the situation and control the anti-social elements sheltered in BJP. Seems he has been challenged by his leaders and colleagues with the support of police and administration, he pointed out.
“Dr Saha demonstrated mussel power in his by-elections at Bardowali last year. He mobilized BJP cadres from outside to 52 booths of 56 in his constituency to rig the poll, which was documented to ECI and Supreme Court too. Even then he won the elections by a margin of only 6000 odd votes. After that violence becomes an ornament of Saha’s cabinet where his ministers and MLAs are openly instigating the cadres to attack the opposition,” Roybarman stated.
Finally, on Friday ECI pulled the rope of BJP’s violence but people want stringent actions on all the accused persons including ministers involved in the crime, and for ECI to act impartially to hold the election fair and peaceful, he said adding, “We place our demand of fair elections today and ECI to secure the voting right of each and every voters on February 16.”
