Agartala: The INDIA bloc held a mega protest rally in Agartala on Friday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and accusing him of electoral misconduct and manipulating the election process.The rally was led by former chief minister and senior CPM leader Manik Sarkar, opposition leader and CPM state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury, Tripura Congress president Asish Kumar Saha, Congress MLAs Gopal Chandra Roy and Sudip Roy Barman, along with representatives of eight political parties.Addressing the rally, Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman accused the Election Commission of undermining democracy and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s govt was headed for defeat in the next elections.He criticised the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and called for electoral reforms, a return to the earlier system of appointing Election Commissioners, and the dismissal and arrest of Gyanesh Kumar.“The public understands, and it is certain that Narendra Modi’s fall in the next elections is unavoidable,” Roy Barman said. He added that the protest was aimed at defending the tricolour, Constitution and democratic institutions.Chaudhury alleged that several institutions, including the judiciary, Election Commission, CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department and Reserve Bank of India, had been weakened over the past 13 years.He accused the Election Commission of failing to uphold democratic values and jeopardising the integrity of the electoral process.Chaudhury appealed to opposition parties and secular democratic forces to unite to protect the country’s constitutional principles and ensure free and fair elections.
