Tripura Elections: CPI(M) Raises Concern over Amit Shah’s 'Secret' Meeting with Tripura Officers
Representational Image. Image Courtesy: PTI
New Delhi: In a letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Sitaram Yechury, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M), has raised concerns over the Union Home Minister's alleged attempt to influence the conduct of Tripura Assembly elections slated to be held on February 16.
In the letter, submitted on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, Yechury said Congress MP Gourav Gogoi has alleged that the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, held a secret meeting with a group of top police officials and the Election Department on February 11, 2023, violating electoral norms just three days before the poll date.
“At a time, when all the stakeholders including the electors in general are very much worried about a violence-free fair poll, such secret meeting just three days before the poll date violating the electoral norms has furthered apprehension whether any blueprint has been chalked out in this secret meeting to manipulate the election by any means,” Yechury said.
He has also urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to initiate urgent action to undo the impact, which he claims is a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct. He has also requested that the Election Commission take a report from the special observers and fix responsibility on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other important election officials who met the Union Home Minister.
In the letter, Yechury also mentioned a meeting with the full Election Commission the day before, during which he had expressed apprehensions about the Union Home Minister directly trying to influence the conduct of the elections. “You will recall that in our meeting with the full Election Commission last afternoon, we had expressed our apprehensions about such a possibility involving the Union Home Minister. You had assured us that the Election Commission is fully geared to meet all eventualities in ensuring a free and fair election. However, this development as reported in the media has taken place despite that assurance,” the letter read.
The Election Commission had assured the party that it was fully geared to meet all eventualities in ensuring a free and fair election.
The Secretary of the Tripura State Committee of CPI(M), Jitendra Choudhury, has also written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, calling for a high-level investigation into the allegations of the secret meeting and the removal of officials from election duty if any prima facie evidence is found.
The Election Commission of India has not yet responded to these letters.
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