Agartala, Apr 19, 2024, TRIPURATIMES Desk

TIMES NEWS

Agartala, April 19: Pradyot Kishore Debbarman, the former supremo of Tipra Motha, finds himself in the Election Commission’s crosshairs for allegedly breaching the code of conduct. The Election Commission swiftly responded by issuing a notice to Debbarman after he posted a video message on social media following his campaign for the West Tripura Lok Sabha seat.

In the notice, the Election Commission directed Debbarman to delete the video in question and demanded an explanation as to why punitive action should not be taken against him. Tripura’s Chief Electoral Officer, Punit Agarwal, set a deadline of 2:00 PM today for Debbarman’s response.

The incident occurred after the first round of campaigning concluded on April 17 at 5:00 PM in the West Tripura Lok Sabha constituency. As per Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, political parties are prohibited from campaigning after the general campaign period ends. This prohibition extends to social media platforms. Despite this, Debbarman openly solicited votes for a specific political party on social media yesterday evening.

The Election Commission’s prompt action underscores its commitment to maintaining a level playing field during elections. While Debbarman promptly removed the video following the notice, it remains to be seen whether he will provide a defense to the commission.