Agartala: The CPM state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury on Wednesday wrote to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Tripura Kiran Gitte asking to arrange voting of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans who have been under deputation outside the state.
The letter reads, “You might have known around 2,000 TSR jawans are now posted in deputation at Chhattisgarh and some other states. Most of them are permanent residents of Tripura and their names are enrolled in the electoral roll here. According to the provision, they are not entitled to get EDC nor would they get leave en-masse to come to Tripura for casting vote.”
The Election Commission should also not ignore the right to the franchise of such a large number of electors who are engaged in security duty in various parts of the country.
In such circumstances, the Commission has to explore how their right to vote is protected if necessary, arranging to vote in their place of posting, Choudhury mentioned.
In a separate letter to the CEO, Left Front convenor Narayan Kar demanded to initiate action in removing campaigning materials and advertisements of the ruling BJP by invoking the Tripura Prevention of Defacement of Property Act 1976 at the earliest.
He alleged BJP has been erecting, pasting, and sticking campaign materials/advertisements in public places. A huge number of flags, festoons, banners, and cutouts have already been erected, pasted, or fitted in government property like electrical posts, passenger sheds, and other government properties by BJP violating the law, which needs to be removed immediately.
