Agartala, July 17, 2024: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has voiced strong condemnation of what it describes as a series of violent attacks staged by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the lead-up to the three-tier panchayat elections in Tripura scheduled for August 8, 2024.

According to a statement from the CPI(M) Polit Bureau, the announcement of the election date has triggered relentless assaults on their candidates and supporters by individuals allegedly affiliated with the BJP. “Our candidates are being systematically targeted to prevent them from filing their nominations,” said a senior CPI(M) leader. “These assaults are not isolated incidents but part of a broader campaign to intimidate the opposition.”

The situation took a deadly turn on July 13, when Badal Shil, a CPI(M) candidate for the South Tripura Zilla Parishad, was reportedly killed by BJP supporters. The CPI(M) claims that numerous party leaders and workers have been injured and hospitalized due to these attacks. “This is an unprecedented level of violence,” stated a party spokesperson. “We have leaders who have been waylaid and assaulted, vehicles carrying our members attacked in front of police personnel, and residences of our leaders targeted with bombs.”

The CPI(M) also alleges that BJP leaders have threatened to kill any opposition candidate attempting to submit a nomination. They claim that opposition leaders were forcibly prevented from participating in all-party meetings convened by election officials. “The BJP’s agenda since their 2018 assembly election victory has been to annihilate the opposition,” the spokesperson added. “In the past six years, 30 of our members and workers have been murdered in politically motivated attacks.”

The CPI(M) asserts that these “intimidatory tactics” have created an atmosphere of terror across the state, casting serious doubts on the possibility of conducting free and fair elections. “We demand that the authorities take adequate measures to ensure the safety of all candidates and uphold the democratic process,” the Polit Bureau declared.

As the election date approaches, the CPI(M) continues to call for greater security and transparency to safeguard the democratic rights of all participants in the electoral process.