Tripura’s political landscape witnessed upheaval as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) district president Kajal Das faced arrest on accusations of assaulting a presiding officer during the Lok Sabha elections for the Tripura East constituency. Police confirmed the arrest, shedding light on the incident that unfolded at a polling booth within the Bagbassa assembly segment during the second phase of parliamentary polls on April 26.
Das, serving as the BJP’s North Tripura district president, allegedly engaged in a physical altercation with presiding officer Narayan Chakraborty around 5 pm, as the voting process approached its conclusion. The confrontation reportedly stemmed from Chakraborty’s instructions to voters regarding queue management and the issuance of ‘tokens’ before casting their votes.
While the circulation of a purported video depicting the assault surfaced, the authenticity of the clip remained unverified. However, based on the FIR filed against Das, North Tripura Superintendent of Police Bhanupada Chakraborty confirmed the arrest and subsequent court appearance for remand.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing, with authorities aiming to ascertain the full extent of the events surrounding the assault on the election officer.
In a separate but related occurrence at the same polling booth under the Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency, BJP MLA Yadav Lal Nath and his associates reportedly confronted Booth-Level Officer (BLO) Chinmoy Das on April 26. Despite not being a voter at the booth in question, Nath, representing the Bagbassa constituency in the legislative assembly, faced a notice for alleged misconduct from the district election officer.