Tripura: Over 10,890 candidates file nominations for 4,597 Village Committee seats

Agartala, Sep 10 (AHN) Around 10,890 candidates, including a large number of tribal women, have filed their nominations for 4,597 seats in the September 28 elections to the Village Committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), officials said on Thursday.

Politically important elections to 4,597 seats in 2,634 constituencies covering 587 Village Committees -- equivalent to Gram Panchayats in the non-TTAADC areas -- will be held on September 28 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.

Tripura State Election Commission (TSEC) officials said that of the 10,890 candidates, the highest number of 4,361 nominees have been fielded by the TMP, followed by 2,456 by the CPI(M), 1971 by the BJP, 483 by the IPFT, 465 by the Congress and four by the CPI. Around 1,150 Independent candidates are also in the fray. Of the total seats, 1,169 have so far received only a single nomination, facilitating the candidates to win the elections without any contest.

Three seats -- two under Mungiakami Block and one under Hezamara Block -- have received no nomination from any political party.

The final picture of the Village Committee elections would emerge after the withdrawal of candidatures on Friday (September 11), SEC officials said.

In connection with the elections, a series of incidents have been reported from across the eight districts. Senior IPFT leader and Minister Sukla Charan Noatia said that a “brutal” attack was carried out on his party's General Secretary Swapan Debbarma on September 8 at Hezamara in Khowai district.

“Debbarma was targeted and beaten up by supporters of the TMP while he was travelling to Khowai village. This kind of violence is completely unacceptable. IPFT, BJP and TMP are contesting the Village Committee election together as an alliance. Such acts of aggression directly undermine the very spirit of our unity,” Noatia said in a statement.

He said that political violence must stop immediately in every nook and corner of the state. “I urge all party workers and supporters to maintain peace, uphold the integrity of our alliance, and ensure a safe, democratic election process,” the tribal leader stated.

The CPI(M) and Congress also alleged that their candidates could not submit nomination papers in a large number of seats due to attacks, intimidation and obstruction by TMP and BJP workers.

“We have approached the SEC to take appropriate action for the smooth conduct of elections, but the commission has yet to take any visible action to prevent the violence,” Left Front convener and former minister Manik Dey told the media.

Meanwhile, ahead of the September 28 Village Committee elections in Tripura's tribal areas, a crucial meeting was held in New Delhi on September 4 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Besides HM Shah and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, BJP's Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra and TMP supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma were also present at the meeting.

As a follow-up to the September 4 meeting in the national capital, a closed-door meeting was held at a hotel in Agartala on September 6 between the BJP and TMP leaders, where the seat-sharing arrangement was finalised. Three ministers and two leaders representing the BJP, and five leaders, including a minister and two MLAs from the TMP, attended the marathon meeting.