‘Tripura bye-poll results artificial verdict managed by BJP with help of police, civil officials’

AGARTALA/NEW DELHI: The CPI-M led Left Front on Friday termed the results of the bye-elections to two Assembly constituencies — Dhanpur and Boxanagar — as manufactured verdict managed by the ruling BJP with the help of a section of police and civil administration in league with the Election Department. Alleging large-scale intimidation, rigging and irregularities by members and workers of the state’s ruling BJP on the polling day and the Election Commission’s “inactiveness” to deal with the “terror and misdeeds”, the Left Front has boycotted the counting of votes on Friday.

From the results of the bye-elections to two Assembly seats indisputably vindicated the allegation of the Left Front that the election in both the constituencies on Tuesday was totally rigged and reduced to mockery of democracy in the name of elections, the Front said in a statement. It said that the voting witnessed the widespread capture of polling booths by the BJP followers mobilized from outsides who resorted to rampant manipulations in most of the polling booths in front of the electoral personnel and police forcing the Left Front to raise demand to countermand the election and arrange a fresh poll in both the constituencies.

But the Election Commission did not pay cognizance to this genuine demand, the statement said adding that the results of the by-election, announced on Friday shows that, the BJP candidates in Boxanagar and Dhanpur have won the election securing 89 per cent and 71 per cent of total polled votes respectively. In the history of state elections, except former Chief Minister Dasaratha Deb in Ramchandraghat Assembly seat (in 1978 and 1983), there is no record of any candidate getting such a high percentage of votes in any genuine election, the Front said. They said that in the general election held in February this year, the CPI-M won in Boxanagar and lost Dhanpur with a marginal difference in the triangular contest.

Within six months, nothing happened in the state political scenario that may lead shifting of such a huge number of voters towards the ruling party, rather, during this period discontent of the masses has escalated over the performance of the government to address the crisis of livelihood of the people and that in other sectors, the statement said. The Left Front urged the people to out rightly reject the results and intensify their struggle for restoration of democracy in the days to come.

The CPI-M politburo also in a statement, issued in Delhi, reiterated its demand that these by elections be countermanded and fresh polls be conducted under strict supervision of the Election Commission.

According to the results, BJP candidate Taffajal Hossain, with 34,146 votes, won in Boxanagar seat by a margin of 30,237 votes defeating his CPI (M) opponent Mizan Hossain, who bagged 3,909 votes only. BJP nominee Bindu Debnath (30,017 votes) has succeeded in the Dhanpur constituency beating his CPI-M challenger Kaushik Chanda (11146 votes) by a margin of 18871 votes. (IANS)

Also Read: Tripura byepolls: CPI (M) to boycott Friday’s counting of votes in two Assembly seats

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