Farcical voting : veteran leader Salil Debbarma, free lance journalist Chandrima Sarkar brave obstacles of BJP mafia elements to cast ballots

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, June 23, 2022

Despite the steps taken by the election commission, today’s by-poll as feared earlier turned out to be a farce to a great extent. In many cases voters were prevented from proceeding towards polling booths , let alone pressing EVM buttons with the state police looking away in non-chalance. Even in the heart of the town in Maharani Tulsibati Girls higher secondary school many voters , mostly from the post Santipara area failed to cast their votes for their suspected political loyalty because resistance by the mafia elements of the ruling party.

But the most bizarre incident took place in the polling station located at the erstwhile Music College near IGM chaumuhuni. Veteran tribal leader of CPI (M) and former nominated member of AMc Salil Debbarma (85) had gone to vote and was resisted by a gang of BJP mafia . Salil Debbarma pleaded his right to vote and was also physically harassed with scratches on his old body though a section of BJP mafias pleaded that as a veteran man he should be allowed to vote. Finally Salilda, as he is popularly known, managed to wriggle out of the melee and went into the booth and cast his vote. While coming out Salilda raised his left hand with a beaming face as a sign of victory to his tormentors.

In yet another bizarre incident Chandrima Sarkar, a free-lance journalist and daughter of late CPI (M) leader Subrata Sarkar, was stopped in front of the polling booth in the office of the ‘Safed’ in Indranagar. But Chandrima engaged in a heated argument and fought her way through to cast her ballot and returned with a smiling face to post her comment in the social media major ‘Facebook’.