THE Tripura State Election Commission admitted to booth capturing and bogus voting during the September 28 Village Committee elections, but has ordered re-polling in only three seats. The selective action has drawn sharp criticism from the CPI(M), which charged that the Commission had failed to maintain its independence and had acted to appease the BJP and Tipra Motha.

State Election Commissioner Dr Pradip Kumar Chakraborty, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, announced re-polling on October 3 in two seats of Gamaria Village Committee under Matabari block in Gomati district. He said booth capturing and bogus voting had taken place in these seats. Re-polling will also be held in one seat of Paharpur Village Committee under Amarpur block because of a problem with the ballot paper.

Asked whether the re-polling decision followed a demand from Tipra Motha, the State Election Commissioner said the three seats were being re-polled on the basis of its complaints.

The Commission, however, has taken no decision on the CPI(M)'s demand for re-polling in several booths in Durgachowmuhani block under Kamalpur subdivision. The CPI(M) had specifically sought re-polling in ten seats, alleging that opposition polling agents were driven out of booths and bogus voting was subsequently carried out.

CPI(M) Tripura State Committee Secretary Jitendra Chaudhury strongly criticised the Commission's decision. He said the re-polling announcement showed that the Commission had failed to maintain its independence.

“The Commission has accepted the demands of the BJP and Tipra Motha and announced re-polling in three seats. The CPI(M) had specifically demanded re-polling in ten seats, but the Commission has said nothing about our complaints,” Chaudhury said.

He said CPI(M) had warned from the beginning that the present State Election Commissioner would not have the courage to act against the wishes of the BJP. The events during the Village Committee elections had proved these apprehensions correct, he added.

Chaudhury pointed particularly to the violence at Warengbari. He said adequate Central forces were available in the state but had not been deployed in sensitive areas. Had they been properly deployed, attempts by outsiders to capture booths could have been prevented, he said.

“The Village Committee elections were not conducted in a free and fair manner. The Commission could not keep its spine straight,” Chaudhury said.

The State Election Commission itself acknowledged serious irregularities. The Commissioner said groups of people had entered polling stations and that officials had been left with little scope to intervene. At Gamaria, there were also incidents of gathering and disturbance outside the strong room.

The admission came even as the Commission claimed that the overall law-and-order situation on polling day was largely normal, apart from the firing incident at Warengbari and the assault in which the Gomati district Superintendent of Police suffered a head injury. Road blockades continued on the Udaipur-Amarpur road in Maharani from Monday night into Tuesday.

When questioned how such incidents could take place despite the Commission's earlier assurance that adequate security forces had been deployed, the Commissioner offered no specific explanation, saying only that cooperation from all sections was necessary.

The Commission said eight complaints had been received from different political parties on polling day. Most related to obstruction of polling agents and interference with their participation in the electoral process. Reports have been sought from observers and Returning Officers, and further action will be taken after their findings are received.

The final voter turnout was put at 81.21 per cent. According to the Commission, 961,977 voters were registered across 587 Village Committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. Following the nomination and withdrawal process, 1,644 candidates were elected unopposed, including 1,561 from Tipra Motha, 81 from BJP, one from CPI(M) and one independent candidate. No polling was held in three seats.

Polling was conducted in 2,950 seats across 44 RD blocks, with 8,176 candidates in the fray. The Commission said 6,628 election-duty votes were also cast.

At 4 p.m. on polling day, the preliminary turnout was around 79 per cent, while 10,850 voters were still waiting in queues at various polling stations. They were allowed to vote on the basis of slips issued by Presiding Officers. After incorporating the Presiding Officers' diary records, the turnout was revised to 81.01 per cent and, after adding election-duty votes, the final figure was put at 81.21 per cent.

Chaudhury urged the Commission to ensure that no compromise was made during counting. He demanded deployment of Central forces at all counting centres and called for a transparent and proper counting process.

The Commission's decision to order re-polling in three seats while remaining silent on the CPI(M)'s specific complaints has intensified questions over its impartiality. The selective response has also exposed the contradiction between the Commission's claim of a largely normal election and its own admission of booth capture, bogus voting and obstruction of the electoral process.

Manik Sarkar Faces Obstruction on Way to DYFI Conference in Mohanpur

Sandipan Deb 

Former Chief Minister of Tripura and senior CPI(M) leader Manik Sarkar faced obstruction while travelling to Mohanpur to attend the divisional conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). It is alleged that a group of BJP workers attempted to block his convoy in the Bamutia-Kalibazar area. As the situation became tense, DYFI activists came out of the conference venue carrying flags and mounted a strong resistance.

Speaking to the media later in the day, Manik Sarkar said that he had been invited by the DYFI to attend the divisional conference and was scheduled to reach the venue by noon. According to him, while his convoy was proceeding towards the conference venue through Kalibazar, the road was blocked. This led them to believe that an attempt was being made to prevent them from reaching the conference.

Manik Sarkar said that CRPF and BSF personnel were also present at the spot and were trying to clear the obstruction. At that point, DYFI activists came out of the conference venue carrying flags. Amid the presence of security personnel, they stood alongside the convoy, raised slogans, and eventually escorted Manik Sarkar to the conference venue.

CPI(M) Tripura State Secretary Jitendra Chowdhury strongly condemned the incident. He questioned how such a prolonged disruption could be allowed during a former Chief Minister's programme. He pointed out that neither the CPI(M) nor the DYFI is a banned organisation and questioned why they should be prevented from holding a programme.

Referring to Chief Minister Manik Saha's repeated assertion of a “zero-tolerance” policy, Chowdhury asked whether the incident represented the BJP's version of zero tolerance. He also spoke to the officiating Director General of Police following the incident, who assured him that appropriate action would be taken. Chowdhury urged BJP workers to refrain from such “shameless” activities and warned that if the people take to the streets to resist such actions, those responsible may find it difficult to escape public resistance.

The incident triggered political tension in Mohanpur. DYFI activists said that the attempt to obstruct a senior leader on his way to a political programme was part of a continuing pattern of interference with democratic political activities.

Later in the afternoon, a large number of people joined a protest march in Agartala against the alleged attack on and obstruction of Manik Sarkar. The protesters raised slogans calling for strong resistance to what they described as the undemocratic activities of the BJP.

TET Aspirants Detained Amid Agartala Protest

Sandipan Deb 

TENSION erupted on Thursday in front of Shiksha Bhavan in Agartala during a protest demanding the appointment of candidates who had qualified the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET). Police used water cannons to disperse the protesters. Around 100 protesters were detained and taken to the AD Nagar Police Lines.

Candidates who qualified in the 2024 TET-I and TET-II examinations said that important stages of the recruitment process had already been completed. Although the documents of around 1,856 candidates had been verified, the final merit or recommendation list had not yet been published. The protesters demanded that all 1,856 candidates be appointed together against the Graduate Teacher (GT) and Under Graduate Teacher (UT) posts notified by the government. They opposed any fresh selection process.

The protesters said that they had repeatedly approached the concerned authorities seeking clarity on the timeline for recruitment. They alleged that instead of providing an answer, the BJP-led government had resorted to repression against the protesters.

Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chowdhury strongly condemned the police action against the prospective teachers. In his reaction, he referred to what he described as the “extreme deterioration” of the state’s education, employment and administrative systems. He said the confrontation between the police and TET-qualified job aspirants, and the use of water cannons against them, raised serious questions about the government’s approach towards unemployed youth.

The Leader of the Opposition also questioned why candidates who had passed a government-conducted eligibility examination were forced to take to the streets demanding jobs and why the police ultimately had to use water cannons against them. The incident occurred amid growing frustration among TET-qualified candidates who had been waiting for recruitment for a long time.

Jitendra Chowdhury said that the fact that candidates who had qualified in a government eligibility examination had to face water cannons while protesting for appointment raised serious questions about the prevailing situation in education, employment and administration in the state. Many participants in the protest said that after qualifying the examination, they had also taken part in subsequent stages of the recruitment process, yet there was still no clarity regarding their appointment.

In a statement, the SFI Tripura State Committee said that the teacher shortage in schools across the state had assumed alarming proportions. It accused the BJP-led government of failing to take effective steps to provide employment. According to SFI, TET-qualified young men and women had repeatedly approached different authorities with their demand for jobs but had received no assurance. They had also failed to receive satisfactory responses from officials and the concerned minister at Shiksha Bhavan.

SFI said that the candidates were therefore compelled to launch a democratic movement for their legitimate demand for employment. It strongly condemned Thursday’s police action against the protesting job aspirants, stating that several protesters had sustained minor injuries. The organisation also criticised the manner in which prospective teachers were reportedly dragged and forced into police vehicles.

SFI strongly condemned and protested against the police repression of the democratic movement organised by TET-qualified unemployed candidates. The organisation demanded that all unemployed TET-qualified candidates be appointed at the earliest to address the shortage of teachers in the state.

The Tripura Government Teachers’ Association (H.B. Road) also strongly protested against the incident. The organisation said that in a democratic country, every citizen has a constitutional right to protest for legitimate rights. It described as highly objectionable and inhuman the manner in which, according to the organisation, the state administration and police dragged, arrested and assaulted the unemployed young men and women.

On Friday, police prevented a protest march from starting at Paradise Chowmuhani in Agartala. The march had been organised in protest against Thursday’s police action against TET-qualified job aspirants. Protesters accused the police of engaging in scuffles and misbehaving with the protesting students and youth. Four Left student and youth organisations—SFI, DYFI, TSU and TYF—then staged a road blockade in protest.

Addressing the protest meeting, DYFI Tripura State Secretary Nabarun Deb said that TET-qualified job aspirants were not criminals; they had passed the examination and were waiting for appointment as government teachers. He questioned why water cannons and detention were used instead of resolving their demands through dialogue. He said that the recruitment of teachers should not be kept pending indefinitely and that young people who had acquired the required qualifications should not be forced to wait for years. The administration, he said, should engage in dialogue with the protesters and resolve the issue at the earliest.

The protesters also questioned why the police were intervening against young people demanding government jobs when opportunities for dialogue were available in the case of other movements. The Left student and youth organisations demanded effective government action to end the uncertainty faced by the job aspirants.

Several student and youth leaders were detained at the protest site and taken to a temporary detention camp. They were released later that night.