The Left Front demanded cancellation of the election, and announcement of fresh polling, but the EC refused to take any steps in this regard...
Digital Desk: The Left Front, led by the CPI(M), has said that it will not participate in the vote counting because it claims the Election Commission did not take adequate measures to stop widespread cheating in the Tripura by-elections.
On Tuesday, Sepahijala district by-elections for the Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly seats were held. In the two seats, an average turnout of 86.50 percent was noted.
The Left Front claimed that there was widespread election tampering.
"Right from the start of the voting, we caught the Election Commission's notice. Unfortunately, nothing was done to stop the widespread rigging," Left Front convenor Narayan Kar claimed on Wednesday night.
The EC declined to act in this regard, he claimed, despite the Left Front's demands for the election to be called off and new polling to be announced.
"The EC's motive is plainly evident. What benefit would there be in participating in the September 8 vote-counting process in this circumstance? We have thus chosen to abstain from the counting," he added.
Samsul Haque, a CPI(M) MLA, passed away, forcing a by-election for the Boxanagar constituency. The resignation of Dhanpur MLA Pratima Bhoumik as a Union Minister made a by-election necessary.
Tafajjal Hussain of the BJP is running against Mizan Hussain of the CPI(M) for the Boxanagar seat. Of the 43,087 electors, 66% are members of minorities.
Bindu Debnath of the BJP and Kaushik Debnath of the CPI(M) got into a brawl in the Dhanpur assembly district, which was formerly thought to be a stronghold of the Left. There are 50,346 registered voters. In the assembly election that was held seven months ago, the BJP won the seat for the first time.
Both the Congress and the Tripra Motha did not field candidates for the two by-election seats.
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