Congress too moves SC demanding fresh poll in West Tripura

The Congress in Tripura said it filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking fresh election in the entire West Tripura Lok Sabha seat, where polling was allegedly rigged by the ruling BJP.

The Congress' move came a day after the state CPI(M) filed a similar petition in the apex court.

The two parties took the legal step after the Election Commission ordered that repoll will be held in 168 out of the 1,679 polling stations of West Tripura seat on May 12.

The Left party Thursday claimed that announcement of repoll in so many polling stations in a single constituency is "political defeat" for the BJP.

Polling in the constituency was held on April 11 and the CPI(M) and the Congress had demanded repoll in the entire constituency, alleging large-scale rigging by the BJP.

"Our petition was filed in the Supreme Court today. Senior party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi will fight the case," state Congress vice-president Tapas Dey told PTI here.

CPI(M)'s West Tripura candidate Shankar Prasad Dutta on Wednesday filed the party's petition in the apex court challenging the EC' decision of holding repoll only in 168 polling stations.

"The EC's decision to hold repoll is political defeat for the BJP. Repolling in so many booths of a single constituency has set a precedence in the country," CPI(M) state secretary Gautam Das told a news conference.

Elections were largely rigged by the ruling BJP and more than 50 per cent of the voters could not exercise their franchise in West Tripura seat on April 11, he alleged.

In his report, West Tripura returning officer had said webcasting cameras did not function properly in 433 polling stations, Das claimed.

The state Left Front convener and CPI(M) central committee member Bijan Dhar, who was also present in the press conference, urged the voters to vote against the BJP during repoll on Sunday.

After allegations of rigging in West Tripura were raised, the EC had postponed voting in East Tripura, the other Lok Sabha seat in the state, to the third phase on April 23 from April 18, saying the prevailing law-and-order situation there is not conducive for holding free and fair poll.

Special Election Observer Vinod Zutshi had come here late last month and examined footages recorded in webcams in the booths of West Tripura and other documents. He later submitted his report to the EC.