The Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), has raised serious concerns about the conduct of the bye elections in Dhanpur and Boxanagar held on Tuesday and urged the Chief Electoral Officer in a letter to countermand the entire election process. The CPM accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of widespread malpractice and intimidation tactics.
According to the CPI(M), the elections in both constituencies were marred by alleged rigging carried out by BJP supporters with the assistance of a section of the police and civil administration. They claim that the situation escalated to an “extraordinary terror situation,” allowing outsiders, believed to be BJP supporters, to enter the constituencies well in advance of the polling day on September 4, 2023.
In the letter wriiten to the CEO opposition CPM’s state unit secretary Jitendra Chouhdury has reported instances of physical assaults on opposition party members, including the alleged assault of a CPI(M) leader named Abu Jafar by the BJP candidate Tofazzal Hussain in Boxanagar. They also assert that only a limited number of CPI(M) polling agents were able to attend polling booths and that many of them were forcibly removed by BJP supporters.
Furthermore, the CPI(M) alleges that outsiders mobilized by the BJP engaged in acts of terrorization and intimidation of opposition supporters, discouraging them from going to the polling booths. There are reports of threats and violence against voters who defied these intimidations. In one instance, a minister named Sri Bikash Debbarma reportedly led a terrorization drive in the Mohanbhog area of the 23-Dhanpur constituency, resulting in physical harm to a TYF leader named Jayanta Debbarma.
The CPI(M) also accuses the BJP of facilitating the casting of votes by large numbers of outsiders using the names of absentee voters. They claim that in many polling booths, voters were forced to cast their votes in the presence of BJP supporters or that BJP supporters themselves cast votes on behalf of voters.
The CPI(M) further alleges that the police did not take adequate measures to control the activities of BJP miscreants and that there was a lack of intervention from the administration.
In light of these serious allegations, the CPI(M) Tripura State Secretariat has demanded the countermand of the entire elections in both the 20-Boxanagar and 23-Dhanpur constituencies. They call for a fresh poll to be conducted with the strictest security measures in place.
Additionally, the CPI(M) has outlined specific demands, including the arrest of Sri Bikash Debbarma, the removal of the Superintendent of Police (SP) Sepahijala, and both Returning Officers (ROs) of Boxanagar and Dhanpur. They also propose drafting electoral staff from outside the poll-bound district to prevent any recurrence of election irregularities.
