Agartala: July 16: The Left Front has taken its concerns about the panchayat elections to the Tripura High Court. Yesterday, they filed a petition with specific requests, which was subsequently accepted by the division bench led by Chief Justice Apresh Kumar Singh and Justice S D Purkayastha. The court will hold a hearing on the matter on July 18.
The Left Front has been vocal about alleged violence during the panchayat elections, especially following the death of CPM candidate Badal Shil, who had their support. Criticizing the ruling BJP, the Left has consistently raised questions about the integrity of the electoral process. Despite repeated attempts to engage with the state election commissioner and the director general of police, they claim that cooperation from the police has been lacking.
Yesterday, the Left Front met with the state DGP to demand security measures for candidates. They specifically requested police escorts during the nomination process. However, the DGP clarified that without instructions from the State Election Commission, such actions were not feasible.
Manik Dey, a CPM state committee member and former minister, revealed that the state election commission advised them to coordinate with the police regarding candidate security. Following this guidance, they approached the DGP, but he reiterated that there was no directive from the election commission to provide candidate escorts.
In response, today the Left Front once again approached the state election commissioner, highlighting the DGP’s stance. The convener of the Left Front expressed their concerns during a press conference.
