Agartala: Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee President Birajit Sinha stated on Monday that the upcoming election in Tripura has caught the attention of the entire country as its results will have a nationwide impact.
He was speaking at a press conference held at the Agartala Press Club, where he was accompanied by leaders from the Left parties.
Sinha criticized the BJP, calling it a “religiously bigoted party,” and said that the core idea of India is under threat since the party came to power. He pointed out that the BJP only received 31% of the vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which means that half of the country voted against them.
He emphasized that India has been secular since its foundation and that the BJP’s efforts to challenge this will not be tolerated. Sinha also stated that the whole country has set its eyes on the Tripura elections, as the state may be small in size but is politically crucial. He added that this election will be a model for the opposition across the country and will have important takeaways.
Sinha also recalled the time when the CPI(M) and Congress were fierce competitors. He said that the current association between the two parties has a primary goal of restoring the democratic setup in the state.
He highlighted the repression faced by opposition parties since the BJP came to power. He stated that 44 Congress offices have been captured or bulldozed and that over 400 CPIM offices have been destroyed. He also added that workers from opposition parties are living in fear due to violent attacks carried out by miscreants backed by the BJP.
Sinha expressed disappointment with the inactive role of some police personnel and announced that he and other leaders would meet the Chief Electoral Officer to register a complaint about the gross violations of the model code of conduct and the partial role of some officials. He hopes that the Election Commission will be more strict in dealing with such issues.
Jitendra Chaudhary, CPIM State Secretary, stated that despite ideological differences, Congress and CPIM are standing together to protect democracy. He noted that the upcoming election is different from previous polls as it is focused on protecting the rights of the public rather than addressing public issues. He also accused the BJP of paralyzing democratic institutions over the past five years.
Chaudhary explained that the actions of the ruling party’s hoodlums have gone too far and that they have suppressed all the civil rights protected by the constitution of India. This is what led the two democratic parties, Congress and CPIM, to join forces and fight the election together.
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Szaritha Laithphlang, AICC National Secretary, accused opposition parties are not being permitted to campaign freely. She stated that their requests for permission are often being rejected with the excuse that the BJP has booked all the slots for their campaigns. She called on the ECI to investigate this biased behaviour of some officials and questioned how political parties are supposed to reach out to the public if they are not being allowed to campaign.
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