Daijiworld Media Network - Agartala
Agartala, Oct 30: Thousands of people, including a large number of women, participated in a massive protest rally organised by INDIA Bloc parties here on Friday, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral malpractices and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Carrying thousands of Tricolours, singing patriotic songs and raising slogans, the protesters marched through various streets of the state capital, accusing the Election Commission of alleged “vote theft and various other electoral malpractices”.
The Tripura unit of the INDIA Bloc, comprising eight political parties — Congress, CPI(M), CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party, All India Forward Bloc, CPI(ML), Gana Mancha and Tripura People's Party — jointly organised the rally and vowed to continue the agitation until their demands were fulfilled.
The protesters marched through different parts of Agartala, expressing concern over what they described as serious irregularities in the electoral process. The rally witnessed a large public turnout, with participants waving the national flag and demanding greater accountability and transparency in the country's electoral system.
The rally was followed by a public meeting where demonstrators reiterated their demand for Gyanesh Kumar's removal and suspension of the ongoing SIR exercise.
Former Tripura Chief Minister and veteran CPI(M) leader Manik Sarkar, Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury, former minister Manik Dey, Tripura Congress president Asish Kumar Saha and former minister and Congress Working Committee member Sudip Roy Barman, along with several other senior INDIA Bloc leaders, led the rally and addressed the gathering.
The protesters put forward a four-point charter of demands, seeking the removal of Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner, withdrawal of the ongoing SIR process, a review of provisions allegedly affecting the independence of the Election Commission and opposition to the legal protections granted to the CEC.
CPI(M) Tripura state secretary and Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury alleged that the SIR exercise could result in genuine voters being excluded from electoral rolls if adequate safeguards were not put in place.
He also questioned the neutrality of the Election Commission and accused the BJP-led Central government of weakening democratic institutions.
“Nearly 13.50 crore voters have already been removed from electoral rolls across the country through the SIR exercise, and there are apprehensions that over 2.50 lakh voters could be deleted from Tripura's electoral rolls during the upcoming SIR process,” Chaudhury said.
Tripura Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha raised similar concerns, alleging irregularities in voter registration, including duplicate entries and unusually large numbers of voters registered at certain addresses.
He questioned the transparency of electoral procedures and warned that such alleged irregularities could undermine public confidence in the country's electoral system.
Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman appealed to political parties outside the INDIA Bloc, as well as other supporters of democracy, to join the campaign against the alleged electoral malpractices.
He said the INDIA Bloc would continue its agitation to press the Election Commission and the authorities concerned to address their grievances over electoral roll revisions and ensure the integrity, transparency and fairness of the voting process.
The INDIA Bloc leaders reiterated their determination to continue democratic protests until their demands were addressed and the concerns raised by Opposition parties regarding the electoral process were resolved.