Agartala, Sep 28 (IANS) Over 80 per cent of the 6.65 lakh eligible voters cast their votes on Monday in the Village Committee elections in Tripura’s tribal areas, where polling was held after a gap of 10 years, officials said.
Some incidents of violence were reported from Gomati district in southern Tripura, where two people, including a Tipra Motha Party (TMP) candidate, were injured in firing by unidentified persons and shifted to a hospital, officials said.
In another incident, Gomati district Superintendent of Police Anirban Das and some other police personnel were injured in a clash with activists of political parties at the Gamaria school strong room, officials said.
Polling was largely peaceful in the remaining seven districts of Tripura’s tribal areas, they said.
A senior official of the Tripura State Election Commission (TSEC) said men and women voters, mostly from tribal communities, queued up in large numbers outside polling stations well before voting began at 7 a.m.
Polling officially ended at 4 p.m., but over 8,000 voters were still waiting in queues at 40 blocks after the scheduled closing time, the official said.
The ruling BJP, in alliance with its two tribal partners — the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) — is contesting the elections against the opposition CPI-M-led Left Front and Congress.
Elections are being held for 2,950 seats in 587 Village Committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).
A total of 4,597 seats were notified for the elections, but 1,644 seats were won uncontested, while nominations were not filed for three seats.
A total of 8,176 candidates from different political parties were in the fray for the remaining seats.
Around 6.65 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise at 1,095 polling stations spread across eight districts, the official said.
Four types of ballot papers — white, light pink, light green, and light blue — were used for different categories of seats.
Extra security arrangements were made at polling stations in sensitive and remote areas, with Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel deployed at vulnerable locations. A total of 7,458 polling personnel were divided into 1,243 teams to manage polling-related activities at the polling stations, the official said.
A senior police official said more than 15,000 Central and state security personnel were deployed across the eight districts to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling.
As many as 74 CAPF companies, comprising nearly 5,000 personnel, along with 10,000 personnel of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and Tripura Police, were deployed for security during the elections.
According to the TSEC, the TMP won 1,557 seats, or 33.87 per cent, uncontested, while the BJP secured 81 seats, or 1.76 per cent, without a contest. Following the election of candidates without contest and the withdrawal of nominations by 1,069 candidates belonging to various political parties, including the TMP, BJP and CPI-M, polling was held on Monday for 2,950 seats across 44 of the 52 blocks in all eight districts.
The TSEC had earlier announced elections for 4,597 seats across 587 Village Committees, which are equivalent to Gram Panchayats in non-TTAADC and non-tribal areas.
The Village Committee elections were held after a decade, following the directions of the Supreme Court and are considered significant for local governance in the tribal areas administered by the TTAADC.
The Tipra Motha Party, led by former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, has governed the 30-member TTAADC, comprising 28 elected members and two nominated by the state government, since 2021.
The TTAADC came into existence under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution on April 1, 1985, following the 49th Amendment. It has jurisdiction over nearly two-thirds of Tripura’s 10,491 sq km area and is home to more than 12.16 lakh people, around 84 per cent of whom belong to indigenous communities.
Votes will be counted on October 5.
–IANS
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