Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
Now that it is established in a probe by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that there were large-scale irregularities and booth capturing by goons to thwart free and fair franchise in Tripura West, we hope that the ECI will ensure that faith in our democracy is reaffirmed. The re-poll in 464 booths must be done as all voters should be able to exercise their franchise independently, exactly as the Constitution mandates.
For the next poll due in Tripura East, postponed now to April 23, we hope there will be proper guarantees of safety for each voter. Free and fair polls need a fearless electorate. The government of the day cannot be allowed to run riot. We hope the ECI ensures that no government is allowed to demean its mandate to conduct independent, free and fair polls and is able to generate confidence in the electoral process.
We are grateful and reassured that there are officers independently verifying what we had known to be the case as thousands were turned away from the polling booths and even on entering were unable to exercise their rights.
We look forward to the ECI being able to ensure conditions wherein all voters would be able to choose their representative without the fear of physical harm or the prospect of losing their lives.
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