Photo Courtesy: nenow
Agartala: Former Tripura Chief Minister and CPI(M) leader Manik Sarkar is demanding transparency in the upcoming Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The state Election Department plans to launch the exercise on September 5, 2026. Sarkar urged officials to ensure no eligible citizens lose their voting rights during the process.
He expressed fears that the revision could become a tool for harassment. "The voters who had been able to cast their votes in the previous elections shouldn't have their names deleted from the electoral rolls," Sarkar told reporters on Saturday. He insisted that election staff must operate independently, free from political pressure. He pointed to previous concerns in Bihar and West Bengal, where he alleged officials disenfranchised religious minorities, Scheduled Castes, and the poor.
The former leader also flagged issues for married women who relocate. He noted that changing polling stations after moving to a matrimonial home often creates registration hurdles. Officials must provide extra support for these transitions to ensure fairness. Sarkar also challenged all political parties to monitor the process with extreme caution.
Beyond voting rights, Sarkar slammed the state government over rising electricity costs. He described the current situation with inflated power bills as a form of theft. Tripura was a power-surplus state under the Left Front, he claimed, but generation capacity has since collapsed. He mocked state ministers for focusing on photo-ops like planting rice instead of managing the failing power grid.
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