Countermand by-elections in Boxanagar, Dhanpur; Left front to CEO, demands re-poll

The CPI-M and the Left front on Tuesday demanded re-poll of the by-elections to the 20-Boxanagar and 23-Dhanpur assembly constituencies and accused the ruling BJP of poll rigging.

Addressing a press conference here at Agartala Dasharath Deb Smriti Bhavan on Tuesday evening, the Left front convenor Narayan Kar alleged, “The by-elections in both the constituencies of Boxanagar and Dhanpur have been totally rigged by the ruling BJP miscreants using a section of the police and Civil Administration through an extra-ordinary terror situation.”

“A large group of outsiders backed by the BJP started entering the Sonamura subdivision after the last day of the poll campaign to rig the entire polling process in Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly constituencies,” he alleged and expressed concern over the role of police.

He said, “Instead of flushing out of the outsiders from the Constituency and adjacent areas, the ruling BJP miscreants were allowed in large number to get into the constituency areas from the night September 3. They were deputed in strategic points spreading the entire areas of both the constituencies to carry on operation on the poll day.”

“Only 16 CPI-M polling agents in 20-Boxanagar AC and 19 in 23-Dhanpur AC could manage to attend the respective polling booths. But most of them were forcibly driven out of the polling booths by the miscreants mobilized by the BJP,” he told reporters.

“In many polling booths, most of the voters were forced to cast vote in the voting compartment in presence of BJP miscreants or the miscreants themselves casted vote on behalf of the voters,” he alleged further and castigated the police’ role. He alleged, “Police supposedly getting a tacit signal from the administration, and did not take any measure to contain the evil drive of the BJP miscreants. In this way the elections in both the constituencies have been reduced to a complete mockery.”

The Left convenor however demanded countermand of entire elections in both the constituencies of 20-Boxanagar and 23-Dhanpur constituencies and arrange a fresh poll with strictest security measures.

He also demanded the arrest of minister Bikash Debbarma and alleged that Debbarma had physically led a large number of miscreants to trigger the terror tactics against the voters.