Agartala : August 08: Congress state president Ashish Kumar Saha claimed on Thursday that there were no signs of democratic procedures being followed in the ongoing three-tier panchayat elections.
Addressing a press conference, he alleged that the BJP had already won 71% of the seats uncontested in the panchayat elections across the state. Voting was held today for the remaining 29% of the seats. However, even in these seats, the voting process was not conducted democratically. The ruling BJP has created an undemocratic situation through attacks and intimidation.
He further stated that while the elections were somewhat peaceful in the Unakoti and North districts, they turned into a farce in other districts and at the block and panchayat levels. Opposition voters were prevented from reaching the polling booths. Polling agents were assaulted. In various places, ruling party MLAs and even a former Union Minister were seen obstructing voters from reaching the polling booths. Despite repeated appeals to the State Election Commission and the administration, the Congress party did not receive any assistance in providing security to opposition voters and workers. He alleged that since yesterday, opposition workers and supporters were being targeted for attacks and attempts were being made to kill them. Since this morning, ruling party workers have been obstructing voters from reaching the polling booths at various polling stations. Additionally, polling agents were also evicted from the polling booths, alleged state Congress president Ashish Kumar Saha.
