About 25,000 fake voters have been detected in Tripura and the Election Commission of India is on the job to track more.
An officer of the Tripura Election Commission said, “The officials working under the commission have already detected it and their names are being deleted from the list.”
The BJP has made it a major issue before the upcoming state Assembly election. With barely a couple of months to go till the Assembly election in Tripura, the BJP said it’s sure that it would uproot almost two decades of rule of the Manik Sarkar government in Tripura.
“This government would have to go this time. Manik Sarkar government is in power thanks to all such fake voters. If a tiny state like Tripura could have so many fake voters, then one could understand the level of electoral malpractices in the state,” Biplab Deb, president of Tripura BJP, told THE WEEK.
He said that BJP has asked Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti to track fake voters inside the polling booth using 'geo tracker'.
“The Election Commission today uses technology in a massive way. So we have urged the commission to use GPS technology to mark the fake voters in the polling both area or inside the polling booth. They have accepted our demand would implement it,” said Deb.
Deb said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would hold three election campaigns in Tripura—one before the election date is declared and the two during campaigning. Apart from Modi, the chief ministers of Assam, Manipur and other BJP-ruled states would also come and hit the election campaign. After Modi and Shah, the star campaigner would, however, be UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“Yogiji will hold several rallies in Tripura,” said Deb.
The entire BJP has put its full strength in Tripura in the upcoming election, which would take place probably between February and March next year.
On December 27, the BJP would hold a massive rally in Agartala where more than 3 lakh people would attend from all 60 Assembly constituencies.
The BJP said it has put dozens of questions to Sarkar but received no response to them.
“We ask him questions on joblessness, recruitment scams and lack of facilities for the people of Tripura. But he responds with what is happening in UP, Madhya Pradesh and Assam. To answer him, we are bringing our chief ministers from other states,” said Deb.
Claiming that the CPI(M) is playing the communalism card in Tripura, which borders Bangladesh, Deb said that Sarkar would like to keep the Muslim votes in the state.
“It would also like to retain the refugee votes in the state by referring to what’s happening in Assam. The Assam chief minister would give response to it and Sarkar’s attempt to communalise the election would backfire,” Deb declared.
It’s not clear whether the BJP in Tripura is in a position to win the election, but certainly this is the first time Sarkar, one of the longest-serving chief ministers in India, is facing a tough challenge.
Sarkar is campaigning massively this time and mostly spending time in the rural area to keep the vote bank of the Left Front intact.
“Yes, BJP is playing a dirty game. They are playing the Hindu card here and engaged RSS leaders in a big way. But despite that, we would win,” said Gautam Das, state secretariat member of the CPI(M) in Tripura.
Das said the BJP’s tie-up with separatist groups like Indigenous National Party of Twipra (INPT) and Indigenous People Front of Tripura (IPFT) would divide Tripura.
“They are playing with fire in Tripura. They would have to pay a heavy price,” said Das.
In 2013, the Left Front won 51 out of 60 seats in Tripura, with the CPI(M) winning 50 seats.
Referring to the BJP's attempts to pose an election challenge, a senior member of Sarkar's cabinet said, “Nothing unusual... We know for the BJP and RSS, none is a bitter enemy other than communists. So they would like to cause damage to our governments in Tripura and Kerala.”
