Agartala, Sept 25:
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday accused the opposition Congress of trying to “mislead” people by targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying decisions of the Election Commission were taken collectively and questioning why the poll process should be doubted on the basis of differences within the commission. He said that the news article against the CEC acted like “the life-restoring elixir” for Opposition parties including Congress.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a state-level programme marking the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya at Muktadhara Auditorium here, Saha defended Kumar and said the CEC had “done good work”.
“Ultimately, it is the collective thinking of all. Everyone agreed, only then was it implemented. This is nothing new,” Saha said, referring to the functioning of the three-member Election Commission.
The Chief Minister’s remarks came on a day when the Congress held protests against Kumar in several parts of the country, demanding his resignation over allegations concerning the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Congress workers also staged a demonstration in Agartala and burnt an effigy of the CEC next to the Election department.
Saha said the opposition was raising the issue because it had “nothing” else to raise and alleged that attempts were being made to mislead the public.
“If this had happened because of Gyanesh Kumar, then we could have won in Kerala too,” Saha said, referring to the 2026 Kerala Assembly election.
The Chief Minister also referred to the electoral-roll revision in West Bengal and said that there were constituencies where opposition candidates won despite the exercise.
“West Bengal also has several Assembly constituencies where, because of SIR, the opposition won,” he said.
Saha said the opposition was trying to use “falsehoods” to confuse people.
“They are trying to fool the people by taking shelter in lies,” he said, adding that the people would not accept such attempts at “misinformation”.
The Congress’ current campaign against the CEC follows renewed controversy over the functioning of the Election Commission and the SIR exercise. A recent report by a national daily said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected on at least 14 occasions over the previous 10 months to decisions taken by the poll panel without their knowledge. The report has intensified political criticism of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
Congress has demanded Kumar’s resignation and has linked its protests to its objections to the SIR process and the functioning of the poll panel.
Saha’s remarks came amid the continuing political dispute between the ruling BJP and Congress over the Election Commission’s handling of electoral rolls, with the opposition questioning the process and the ruling side defending the poll body’s decisions.
