Agartala, Oct 31: A day after the opposition INDIA bloc staged a protest rally in Agartala, the ruling BJP on Saturday organised a counter-rally in the Tripura capital, accusing the Congress and CPI(M) of attempting to weaken the country’s unity and democratic institutions with the support of foreign forces.
The rally, which began in the Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan area, was attended by Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, former Chief Minister and Lok Sabha MP Biplab Kumar Deb,MP Rajib Bhattacharjee, Minister Tinku Roy, BJP state president and MLA Abhishek Debroy and other senior party leaders.
The BJP rally also comes ahead of the November 27 elections to urban local bodies in Tripura, with the party seeking to mobilise its supporters around the issues of national unity, democracy and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Saha defended the SIR exercise, arguing that electoral roll revision was necessary to remove the names of deceased and otherwise ineligible persons and ensure free and fair elections. He also referred to the Supreme Court’s observations on the exercise and allegations of vote theft raised by opposition parties.
Saha said the Supreme Court had upheld the legal validity of the SIR exercise, recognising the Election Commission’s authority to revise electoral rolls as part of its responsibility to ensure free and fair elections.
Saha also alleged that foreign forces are trying to destabilise democracy in India.
Meanwhile, Minister Tinku Roy accused the Congress and CPI(M), along with their allies, of spreading misinformation to obstruct the country’s development agenda and the vision of a developed India. He said the BJP had taken to the streets to counter what he described as false propaganda by the opposition.
BJP state president Abhishek Debroy alleged that the Congress and CPI(M) were attempting to weaken India’s democratic institutions by aligning with what he described as anti-national forces.
Referring to the opposition’s criticism of the SIR exercise, Debroy pointed out that electoral roll revisions had also been undertaken during previous Congress and CPI(M) governments. He accused the opposition of creating confusion among people over the exercise and said the BJP would continue to oppose such campaigns.
Debroy also alleged that opposition parties, unable to return to power through elections, were attempting to create unrest by invoking examples of political upheavals in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and France. He appealed to political parties to conduct their activities through democratic means rather than mislead the public.
The BJP rally followed Friday’s INDIA bloc demonstration in Agartala, where opposition parties had raised several demands, including objections to the SIR exercise and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The political confrontation comes as Tripura prepares for elections to 21 urban local bodies, including the Agartala Municipal Corporation, scheduled for November 27. The election process was formally set in motion on October 30 with the announcement of the schedule by the State Election Commission.
