The Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded tight security and central security forces be deployed in the upcoming by-election in Tripura.
CPIM state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury demanded proper security measures in all 221 booths in the four Assembly segments where polls are scheduled to be held on June 23, as the Election Commission declared it as ‘hypersensitive’.
Demanding three-layer security measures by central paramilitary forces in each booth, Jitendra Chaudhury wrote a letter to Chief Electoral Officer Gitte Kirankumar Dinkarrao seeking proper security, both inside and outside the poll-bound areas.
“Considering the recent spurt of violence sponsored by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), both inside and outside the poll-bound areas, as narrated in my letter to you yesterday, I strongly demand this,” he said.
Extending his demands, the CMI-M state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said that central security forces be deployed in all booth areas for area domination and confidence building among voters three days before the poll day. With all the booths under CCTV cameras both inside and outside, Chaudhury suggested that all the areas be kept with full tight security so that no disturbance occurs during the election. He also mentioned that the webcasting cameras must be kept under close watch against any disruption by mischievous elements.
As per the source, leaders from different opposition parties also demand proper security because of the increasing political violence in the state which they alleged to be done under some BJP leaders.
Earlier on May 30, Dinkarrao had assured that concerned district magistrates and police superintendents would review the security situation in all the 221 booths to ensure security to the areas and judges of the Polls.
‘Adequate security personnel would be deployed, CCTV coverage would be ensured in all polling stations and webcasting would be done at 50 percent of the polling stations,’ the CEO said also adding that joint task forces and proper use of technology would ensure free and fair elections.
However, Congress leader Ashish Kumar Saha, CPIM leader Ratan Das, and Trinamool Congress leader Tapas Kumar Roy seem un-assured by those assurances and urged the Election Commission to ensure a free and fair by-election.
Meanwhile, all the allegations were considered “rubbished” by the BJP, and the opposition parties were making baseless allegations to regain their “lost political relevance”.
