Agartala, Oct 24 — INDIA bloc partners of Tripura will stage a protest in Agartala on October 30, demanding the withdrawal of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, among four key demands.
Leaders of the Tripura unit of the INDIA Bloc, comprising eight parties -- Congress, CPI (M), CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party, All India Forward Bloc, CPI (ML), Gana Mancha and Tripura People’s Party -- on Saturday jointly announced the protest programme and vowed to continue the agitation until their demands are met.
CPI (M) Tripura state Secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said opposition leaders, workers and supporters would gather in the heart of the capital city on October 30 before marching to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) representative Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office to submit a memorandum.
Addressing a press conference at Agartala Press Club, Chaudhury alleged that the SIR exercise could exclude genuine voters if adequate safeguards were not put in place. He also questioned the Election Commission’s neutrality and accused the BJP-led Central government of weakening democratic institutions.
“Nearly 13.50 crore voters have already been removed from electoral rolls across the country through the SIR exercise, and there are apprehensions that over 2.50 lakh voters could be deleted from Tripura’s electoral rolls during the upcoming revision process,” said Chaudhury, who is also the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state.
The INDIA Bloc’s four-point charter of demands includes the removal of Gyanesh Kumar, withdrawal of the SIR process, a review of provisions allegedly affecting the Election Commission’s independence, and opposition to legal protections granted to the Chief Election Commissioner.
Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashish Kumar Saha echoed the concerns, alleging irregularities in voter registration, including duplicate entries and unusually large numbers of voters registered at certain addresses. He also questioned the transparency of electoral procedures and warned that such issues could undermine public confidence in the electoral system.
Both leaders said the proposed agitation was aimed at protecting voting rights, ensuring electoral transparency and upholding democratic principles.
Saha appealed to political parties outside the INDIA Bloc and other supporters of democracy to join the campaign. The opposition leaders said the October 30 rally would press the Election Commission and the authorities to address their concerns over electoral revisions and the integrity of the voting process.