Agartala (Tripura) [India], October 1 : Tripura Minister Sudhanshu Das on Wednesday criticised Congress and other opposition parties over their demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling it “illogical and baseless” and questioning the Congress electoral performance in the state.
“At present, the demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is illogical and baseless. I strongly condemn the protest and the demand being raised by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress,” Das said, speaking to ANI.
The minister also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of attempting to undermine the country’s democratic institutions, urging people not to pay excessive attention to his statements.
“I would say that people should not pay so much attention to what Nakli Gandhi, particularly, says. It is also a fact that India is known as the mother of democracy in the world. However, the manner in which Rahul Gandhi and his group are bringing disrepute to and undermining this democracy is certainly a matter of concern,” he said.
“The way he is working to weaken India's beautiful democratic system is condemnable,” Das added.
Questioning the Congress electoral performance in Tripura, Das referred to the Panchayat elections held two years ago, saying the party had contested only 731 of around 6,500 seats.
“I want to ask Rahul Gandhi, his group and particularly those in Congress in Tripura: You say that there has been ‘vote chori’, but in Tripura, two years ago, Panchayat elections were held. There were around 6,500 Panchayat seats, but the Congress party contested only 731 seats and could not field candidates in the remaining seats,” Das said.
“My number one question is: if you contest only 731 out of 6,500 seats and cannot field candidates in the remaining seats, does that mean that after losing, you will simply say that there was ‘vote chori’? If you had workers, why did you not field candidates in the remaining seats?” he added.
Das also referred to the recently held Village Committee elections in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) area, saying Congress contested fewer than 400 of the total 4,597 seats.
“Recently, Village Committee elections were held in our state in the TTAADC area on September 27. We have also seen in Tripura that there are a total of 4,597 seats across the state, but the Congress contested fewer than 400 of these seats. If they were unable to field candidates in these places, then naturally they would lose in those places,” Das added.
The minister also alleged that Congress had repeatedly lost elections under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and said the party was attempting to shift the blame for its electoral setbacks.
“The Congress party, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, has lost elections repeatedly and has lost more than 96 elections. Because of this frustration, when party workers lose faith in him, he wants to shift the blame for this frustration onto others,” he said.
Das also questioned Congress’ electoral alliances in other states, referring to seat-sharing arrangements with opposition parties.
“In the 2023 Assembly election, the CPI(M) had given 13 seats to Congress as part of the arrangement. Why is Mamata Banerjee not giving seats to Congress in Bengal? Why are seats not being given in Kerala? Why are seats not being given in Uttar Pradesh? Because, according to us, the Congress party no longer enjoys the same support, and people have lost faith in Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
He also cited comments attributed to CPI(M) state secretary and Leader of Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury regarding counting agents during a recent election in Dharmanagar.
“A few days ago, there was an election in Dharmanagar in which Congress and CPI(M) had an alliance. The CPI(M) said that Congress would not be able to appoint counting agents. This is not my statement; Jiten Chowdhury, the General Secretary of the CPI(M) in Tripura and the Leader of the Opposition, had said this,” Das said.
“People should look at the facts before making allegations against electoral institutions,” Das said.
Congress has demanded action against the Chief Election Commissioner over alleged irregularities in the electoral-roll revision process and has accused the Election Commission of compromising the integrity of elections. The Election Commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing and maintained that its actions are in accordance with the law.