The former Chief Minister of the then Left front government in Tripura – Manik Sarkar on Friday castigated the Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee and alleged of ‘widespread violence’ in the Bengal Panchayat election.
Addressing a party gathering here at Agartala Sarkar alleged, “The entire panchayat election turned into a farce, where the TMC unleashed widespread violence to take the lives of many.”
“Since after the announcement of the poll in Bengal, the TMC backed by Mamata Banerjee started unleashing terror, where the opposition candidates were targeted and attacked to retain into power in the panchayat,” he alleged, adding that votes were looted and the right to votes for the citizens of the Bengal were snatched away by the TMC in presence of the police and security forces.
Expressing concern over the role of the police Sarkar alleged, “The State Election Commission (SEC) in Bengal and the police administration did not act neutral during the election, rather they acted on behalf of the ruling TMC party led by Mamata Banerjee and helped the party retain power in Bengal.”
Meanwhile, Manik Sarkar on Friday claimed that Tripura never witnessed such widespread poll violence like that of the Bengal panchayat election after 2018. He said, “In Tripura there was no such violence like that of Bengal after the 2018 assembly election, but the BJP which is fighting for democracy in Bengal unleashed terror in Tripura and throttled the voice of democracy in the state of Tripura.”
“The BJP in Tripura unleashed terror during every election after 2018. Following this the people of Tripura did not support the BJP in the last 2023 assembly election, where the BJP managed to secure less than 40% votes,” he opined.
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