Tripura: Congress burns effigy of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, demands arrest 

Reported by: Mrinal Banik

Agartala: Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee on Friday held a protest march in front of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), demanding the immediate arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Hundreds of Congress activists participated in the protest march, which concluded near the CEO office. The Congress workers and leaders raised slogans against the Chief Election Commissioner and burnt effigies of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Speaking on the occasion, Tripura Congress MLA and Congress Working Committee member Sudip Roy Barman said, “You must have noticed that educated youth who gathered to ask for their legitimate right to get jobs had been brutally pushed back through the use of force. They had been heckled, shoved and pushed by the police. Water cannons were used to disperse the peaceful protesters. The government can unapologetically show such a kind of audacity because the party in power knows how to manage elections. They don’t need your votes.”

Roy Barman alleged that the educated youth of the state were being treated as if they were terrorists or anti-social elements.

“The ruling party is confident that it will never lose the elections because the Election Commission is acting as a second fiddle to them. Unfortunately, the Indian Express investigation has exposed both BJP and the Election Commission. Election cheating will no longer be possible,” said Roy Barman.

Later, interacting with the media persons, Roy Barman said, “The Indian Express investigation has revealed the truth. And, the investigation has proven the charges raised by Rahul Gandhi against the Election Commission of India as true. Election after election, Rahul Gandhi pointed at how polls were being stolen. In many states, the mandate was not the true reflection of the minds of voters as lakhs of people had been stripped of their right to cast their votes.”

Stating that the act of Gyanesh Kumar was not less than an act against the Indian state, Roy Barman said, “He should be arrested and prosecuted as per law. In order to protect him, the Modi government passed a law after suspending around 140 MPs.”

The Congress leader also informed that a Congress Working Committee meeting has been convened on September 29 to decide how the party would take this campaign to the grassroots. The protests were part of the party’s national-level campaign.