THE counting of votes for the Tripura panchayat election, held on August 12, quickly escalated into a chaotic and violent scene. The counting halls were transformed into battlegrounds, resulting in physical injuries to numerous opposition candidates, counting agents, and supporters. Rajiv Paul, a counting agent, is now in critical condition at GB Pant Hospital in Agartala, fighting for his life.

At a press conference on July 13, Jitendra Chaudhury, secretary of the CPI(M) Tripura state committee, and Narayan Kar, state secretariat member, provided an overview of the feedback from counting centers across the state. They extended their congratulations to the voters and opposition supporters for their unwavering courage, resistance, and commitment to safeguarding democracy during the recent panchayat elections and the vote counting process. Despite the ruling BJP's determined effort to capture every seat uncontested, the resolute people succeeded in limiting their uncontested victories to 71 per cent, a significant drop from the 96 per cent in 2019.

Highlighting the significance of the panchayat election results, Jitendra Chaudhury remarked that under the six-year BJP regime, all segments of society have suffered from various crises. Many elected representatives of the ruling party are entangled in deep corruption, and democracy has effectively eroded across the state. The majority of people are unwilling to endure this regime any longer. Fearing a genuine popular mandate, the ruling party aggressively sought to win all seats uncontested, resorting to violent tactics to obstruct opposition nominations, which led to the murder of a CPI(M) zilla parishad candidate and injuries to numerous others.

In the 29 per cent of seats where elections were actually held, opposition parties and voters faced intense challenges at every stage: from submitting nominations under immense pressure, to campaigning, casting votes, and enduring struggles during the counting process. There were even confrontations over basic procedural aspects, such as securing proposers for candidates, all while facing threats from ruling party miscreants.

Describing the scene on polling day, Jitendra Chaudhury stated that general voters, including those from the BJP, lacked enthusiasm for voting in the panchayat election. This was because they could sense from the body language of local BJP leaders that the election would likely be reduced to a farce. Under such circumstances, even with low voter turnout, BJP miscreants took no chances, preventing a large number of voters from reaching the polling stations. In districts like West Tripura, Sepahijala, Gomati, Khowai, and South Tripura, BJP miscreants didn't allow even a single known opposition voter to cast a vote. In Amarpur, voters had to cast their ballots while showing their marked choices to their agents inside the voting chamber. Similar to the last Lok Sabha election, BJP leaders threatened known left-wing and opposition supporters, warning them not to go to polling stations.

At the Kathalia block in Sepahijala district, as the counting results began to show an opposition lead in several gram panchayats, BJP miscreants waiting outside stormed into the hall armed with lethal weapons. A minor clash ensued between opposition counting agents and the unauthorised BJP intruders, who ultimately overpowered the opposition agents and forced them to leave the counting hall. Subsequently, the BJP miscreants took control of the counting process, disregarding the official counting staff.

It was revealed that in several blocks – such as Chandipur, Kadamtala, Rajnagar, Kathalia, Kalachara, and Ambassa – where the elections were conducted with relative fairness, INDIA bloc candidates initially led in many seats during the early stages of counting. Despite the counting being completed and the opposition winning in those seats, the returning officers (ROs) delayed the announcement of results until late into the night. Subsequently, the results for these seats were reversed after ruling party supporters, who had forcibly entered the counting halls, displaced opposition counting agents.

In several counting halls, where ruling party miscreants had created an atmosphere of terror that made them inaccessible to the opposition, requests for police assistance to enter the halls were denied. In blocks such as Kakraban, Kumarghat, and Chandipur, BJP MLAs personally led the manipulation of the counting process.

Receiving reports of widespread tampering with the popular mandate from various blocks, Jitendra Chaudhury informed that he repeatedly contacted the Election Commissioner, the state DGP, as well as district police and administrative officials. Despite these efforts, no corrective measures were taken to protect the integrity of the election results. Reports indicate that after 1:00 am, the returning officers (ROs) declared the results even though opposition representatives were neither present inside the hall nor outside.

Overall, the INDIA bloc secured 303 seats (3 in zilla parishads, 15 in panchayat samitis, and 285 in gram panchayats). While the number of seats won may seem modest, the determination, zeal, and spirit demonstrated by the people and Party comrades in resisting anti-democratic and authoritarian forces during this election will undoubtedly inspire future struggles and movements.