CPI (M) meets CEO, urges to stop SIR before all party meeting

Opposition CPI (M) opposing the initiative of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls Election Commission of India (ECI) in Tripura, demanded an all party meeting before SIR.

A delegation of CPI(M) led by the party's Central Committee member and former minister Manik Dey on Thursday met the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of  Tripura and submitted a memorandum in support of their demands.

Later, addressing a press conference at party headquarters in Melarmath area of Agartala on Thursday afternoon, Manik Dey along with former minister Naresh Jamatia and Sudhan Das said that urged they CEO before sub divisional level exercise on SIR, the ECI should be kept suspended till the all party meeting is held and opinion of the parties obtained.

Dey said that they requested the CEO ‘you being the highest authority of the state to ensure and supervise the democratic right of all the parties, you should not remain indifferent to the blatant assaults of the democratic rights of the opposition parties mainly by the ruling BJP in the state.’

He said that serious concern has gripped the general electors of the state consequent to the initiative of the Election department to start exercise on SIR of electoral rolls.

Till date, the various Sub-Divisional Magistrate and EROs has undertaken the preliminary exercise of scrutiny of voters roll targeting to perform SIR in the state and all BLOs have been provided a format to furnish information to find out the family lineage of present voters with that of 2005, said Dey and added that neither the CEO in the state level nor the EROs in the sub divisional level has thought it necessary to make the political parties and the electors aware of this important and sensitive exercise on the state’s electoral rolls.

“We are yet to know about the purpose, objective, manner of scrutiny of the exercise. If identification of fake voters is the objective, we think, no stakeholder would have objection. But, it is expected that the entire exercise with the concerned political parties and other stakeholders,” said Dey and claimed that over the secret exercise of the Election department, a large section of electors got surprised.

Dey highlighting some recent incidents said that during an all party meeting by ERO on September 16, CPI(M) representatives were physically attacked  and hacked by the BJP miscreants at the office of ERO and when they were hospitalized, miscreants had also attacked them inside the hospital.

He said that when ERO had convened a meeting of the BLAs in Kamalpur town hall, CPI (M) BLAs could not attend the meeting after they were denied security by the SDPO(Kamalpur).

The CPI(M) delegation urged the CEO to convey their request to the ECI and to take steps for protection of democratic rights of opposition parties.