 "Manik Saha")
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday strongly criticised the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the widespread violence during the Panchayat Election in West Bengal and said to learn what democracy is and how to ensure free, fair, and peaceful elections.
Saha, while addressing Karyakars in an Organisational Meeting at Julaibari, called upon West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC leaders to visit Tripura to understand what democracy is and how peaceful elections can be conducted.
In addition, the Chief Minister urged his party workers to reach out to TMC supporters in Tripura and enlighten them about the violence that unfolded during the West Bengal elections, which resulted in the loss of 18 lives.
"It is important for you to visit the homes of Trinamool Congress supporters and apprise them of the tragic events that took place in West Bengal. Approximately 18 individuals lost their lives during the Panchayat elections in West Bengal. The leaders of the Trinamool Congress should come to Tripura to comprehend the true essence of democracy. We firmly believe in conducting peaceful elections without resorting to hooliganism," asserted CM Saha.
He condemned the TMC workers for their involvement in the killing of BJP party workers during the election process. Saha emphasised that the TMC's history of violence extended beyond targeting common citizens and also included their own party workers.
"We have witnessed their disregard for human life in the past when they targeted innocent civilians and our own party workers. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee should come to Tripura to learn how elections can be conducted peacefully," CM Saha said.
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Manik Saha highlighted that in the 2023 Assembly elections, Tripura set a remarkable precedent by holding elections without any violence or disruptions.
The Panchayat elections in West Bengal took place on July 8 and counting of the votes for 63,229 -Gram Panchayat seats took place on July 11.
TMC has won 28,985 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 7,764 seats, while Congress has secured 2,022 seats so far. TMC was leading on 1,540 panchayat seats while BJP was leading on 417, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has won 2,409 seats and is leading in 260 seats. Other parties won 725 seats and leading on 23 seats, while independents which included TMC rebels won 1,656 seats and are maintaining a led in 104 seats.
Elections were held on July 8 under tight security, with approximately 5.67 crore voters participating and deciding the fate of 2.06 lakh candidates vying for 73,887 seats in rural areas of West Bengal.
However, the voting day was marred with widespread violence, looting of ballots papers and rigging. There were reports of booth capturing, damaging of ballot boxes and assault of presiding officers from several districts such as Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Malda, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur and Nadia.
Reports also emerged of ballot boxes being set on fire and clashes between political parties in different locations.
As a result, re-polling was conducted in 697 booths across 22 Zilla Parishads, 9,730 Panchayat Samitis, and 63,239 Gram Panchayat seats in 19 districts of the state. The re-polling process was conducted under the supervision of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) without any reports of violence.
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