Expressing deep skepticism over the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Pradesh Congress has called for ballot voting and deployment of central forces and using of CCTVs in two elections including in Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council and Dharmanagar by polls.

At a press conference today, party spokesperson Prabir Chakraborty and general secretary Prashant Sen Chowdhury raised multiple allegations regarding the state’s election process.

Chakraborty claimed that in every election held in Tripura since 2018, government administration had been misused arbitrarily, and money had been deployed improperly. He alleged that similar trends were visible in the recent Dharmanagar by-election and the Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections.

They said that despite the state reportedly having sufficient EVMs and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, Chakraborty claimed that additional EVMs were brought in from Madhya Pradesh, raising questions about transparency. 

He also pointed out that demands for voter security, installation of CCTV cameras, and introduction of webcasting had been ignored.

“During the all-party meeting, discussions with BJP representatives led to arguments and uproar, but no solutions were found,” Chakraborty said, further alleging an “opaque relationship” between the BJP and the Election Commission.

Prashanta Sen Chowdhury added that no all-party meeting was convened before the election announcement. When a meeting was eventually held, he alleged, there was a plan to conduct voting using EVMs without VVPAT, which he described as a violation of democratic norms.

Chowdhury said that the Congress had formally conveyed several demands to the Election Commission, including the deployment of central forces, CCTV surveillance, and a transparent voting process.

The Pradesh Congress has urged immediate action to ensure free and fair elections in the state.