Tripura Congress calls district council election a ‘mockery’, seeks transparent voting

The Tripura Pradesh Congress took to the streets on Thursday, April 9 to protest what it called a “disgraceful conspiracy” aimed at turning the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council Election (TTAADC) into a mockery. 

Party representatives, led by Pradesh Congress spokesperson Prabir Chakraborty, marched to the State Election Commission office and staged a demonstration today.

Chakraborty accused the state government of being increasingly disconnected from the people and said internal mistrust among ruling party leaders had reached alarming levels. 

“In this scenario, by-elections are being conducted in Dharmanagar of North District. What is particularly concerning is that the Election Commission seems to have become a puppet of Modi-Shah,” he claimed.

He raised questions over the electronic voting machines (EVMs) brought from Madhya Pradesh, noting that two of them were “chief machines” required for simultaneous elections. 

“Why were such machines brought to the state? Secondly, for 1,200 polling booths, 1,350 EVMs were brought in. This raises serious doubts,” Chakraborty said.

He further alleged that a minister from the ruling party had warned that votes cast for other political parties could end up favoring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), intensifying Congress’s suspicions. 

The delegation later met with the Election Commission secretary to formally present their demands.

Among their demands, the Congress representatives called for the use of VVPAT-enabled EVMs instead of the machines brought from Madhya Pradesh and the installation of CCTV cameras at every polling station.

The State Election Commission secretary, however, clarified that all EVMs had been tested in the presence of representatives from all political parties and were being commissioned under supervision. 

“There is no possibility of tampering with votes through these machines,” he emphasized.