The Election Commission will file FIRs against presiding officers and political activists who indulged in wrongdoing during the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Tripura, officials said on Thursday.
Reports quoted Returning Officer to the Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency Sandeep Mahatme as saying that nineteen Assistant Returning Officers have been asked to file FIRs against the presiding officers, polling officials, polling agents and political activists who indulged in unlawful activities and disturbed the election process.
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Mahatme also said that the exact number of people against whom FIRs has been filed is not certain as the process is going on in several places.
The people who indulged in malpractices were identified by studying webcasting, CCTV footage, official documents and complaints of the political parties.
Meanwhile, Returning Officer to the Tripura East seat Vikas Singh served a notice to BJP candidate Rebati Tripura for spending more than Rs 70 lakh for electoral purposes.
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Also read: CPI-M seeks central forces for election to Tripura East LS seat
As per the EC guideline, a Lok Sabha candidate in the northeastern states is allowed to spend Rs 70 lakh for campaign and other electoral purposes.
The Congress on Thursday again demanded fresh election to the Tripura West constituency, while the Communist Party of India (CPI-M) demanded re-polling in 774 of the 1679 polling stations.
They alleged that the polling for the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat was absurd and was resulted by the BJP and its hooligans as the central and state forces were kept away.
CPI-M state secretary Gautam Das said “The state government, central government and the BJP party have tarnished the election system. They have acted like thieves while claiming that they are ‘chowkidars’. They have been gaining the confidence of the people but they have committed dacoity in broad daylight. This time they have been caught red-handed and so the voting has been deferred in the Tripura East parliamentary constituency.”
However, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee claimed that the Congress and the CPI-M were making false allegations.