The Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) announced on Monday that it will begin a statewide agitation titled ‘vote chor, gaddi chhod’ (vote thief, renounce power) from August 22 to protest alleged voter deletions by the Election Commission and to safeguard democratic rights. The agitational programme, running until September 7, will include nine rallies in major towns including Agartala, Teliamura, Bishalgarh, Dharmanagar, Ambassa, Kailashahar, Belonia, Khowai, and Sonamura. Senior party leaders are expected to address the rallies, mobilising public participation against what the Congress alleges are manipulative electoral practices by the ruling BJP.
Addressing a press conference, TPCC president Asish Kumar Saha claimed that the Election Commission had deleted 65 lakh voters from Bihar’s electoral rolls through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. “Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has exposed this ploy. Instead of acting on his allegation of voter suppression, the CEC has asked him to file an affidavit within a week,” Saha said. Saha further alleged that the BJP has relied on administrative manipulation, muscle power, and money power to win elections since 2014. He cited the Agartala Municipal Corporation polls and the 2022 Bardowali by-election as examples of alleged electoral rigging.
“Rahul Gandhi is leading the movement to safeguard people’s right to vote. Following AICC instructions, the TPCC will carry out the ‘vote chor, gaddi chhod’ agitation from August 22 to September 7. We urge citizens to join the movement and protect democracy,” Saha appealed.
