BJP’s ‘victory’ in few seats before counting stokes controversy

Kolkata: Controversy has erupted over reports of BJP candidates winning certain seats in the Tripura three-tier Panchayat polls even before counting began.

According to reports, the website of the state election commission in Tripura reportedly declared at least three BJP candidates as winners even before the counting began. Most of these seats are in the Unakoti district where in the Zilla Parishad’s seat number six, eight and 13, BJP was shown as the winning party. The same was reportedly observed in the district’s Chandipur-I Panchayat Samiti where the BJP candidate was declared a winner.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev is learnt to have remarked that BJP wants an Opposition-free Tripura and that the saffron brigade is trying to manipulate the polls using muscle and money power. She said people are not being allowed to exercise their democratic right with the objective of hijacking the polls. She reportedly alleged that the BJP is being helped by the election body.After the news went viral, the commission is learnt to have issued a clarification which stated that the poll result is due to be published on August 12. It was informed that the website where results would be declared, will be based on a software made by NIC. What was published on the website was an outcome of a trial of that software but the Opposition in Tripura questioned as to why only names of BJP candidates reflected on the website during the trial as winners.