Multi-cornered contest in Tripura Village Committee polls on Monday after 10 years

Agartala, Sep 27 (IANS) A multi-cornered contest will be witnessed in the Village Committee elections on Monday in the tribal areas of Tripura as the politically important local body polls are being held after a gap of 10 years.

The ruling BJP, in alliance with its two tribal allies — the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) — is contesting against the opposition CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress in the Village Committee elections under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).

The TTAADC, which became operational under the Sixth Schedule on April 1, 1985, following the 49th Amendment to the Indian Constitution, has jurisdiction over nearly two-thirds of Tripura’s 10,491 sq km area and is home to over 12.16 lakh people, around 84 per cent of whom belong to indigenous communities.

The month-long campaign for the Village Committee elections, equivalent to Gram Panchayats in non-TTAADC areas, concluded on Saturday afternoon, with polling scheduled from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday.

A senior official of the Tripura State Election Commission (TSEC) said that all the polling teams, comprising around 7,200 government personnel, left for their destinations in the far-flung, mountainous and remote areas.

A senior police official said that over 15,000 Central and state security personnel have been deployed to ensure the free, fair, smooth and peaceful conduct of the Village Committee elections across all eight districts.

Around 74 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), comprising around 5,000 personnel, along with 10,000 personnel of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and Tripura Police, have been deployed to provide security for the politically important elections to the Village Committees.

The TSEC had earlier announced that elections would be held for 4,597 seats covering 587 Village Committees, equivalent to Gram Panchayats in the non-TTAADC and non-tribal areas.

However, a TSEC official said that of the total 4,597 seats, the TMP won 1,557 seats, accounting for 33.87 per cent, unopposed, while the BJP secured 81 seats, or 1.76 per cent, uncontested.

According to the TSEC official, following the election of candidates without contest in a large number of seats, polling would now be held on Monday in 2,954 seats across 44 of the 52 blocks in all eight districts of Tripura.

After 1,069 candidates of various political parties, including the TMP, BJP and CPI (M), withdrew their nominations, a total of 9,820 candidates are now in the fray for the Village Committee elections.

The authorities have stepped up security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident during polling and to ensure that voters can exercise their franchise peacefully.

The Village Committee elections are being held after a decade and are considered significant for local governance in the tribal areas administered by the TTAADC. Since 2021, the Tipra Motha Party, led by former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, has governed the politically crucial 30-member TTAADC, which comprises 28 elected members and two nominated by the state government.

–IANS

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