Tripura: BJP ally Tipra Motha Party wins 34 pc of tribal body seats unopposed

Agartala: Ahead of the September 28 elections to the Village Committees in the tribal areas of Tripura, the ruling BJP won around two per cent of the total 4,597 seats, while its ally Tipra Motha Party (TMP) secured around 34 per cent of the seats unopposed, officials said on Saturday.

An official of the Tripura State Election Commission (TSEC) said that the TMP won 1,557 (33.87 per cent) of the total 4,597 seats unopposed in the elections to 587 Village Committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas.

The BJP secured 81 seats (1.76 per cent) uncontested following the completion of the withdrawal of nomination papers on Friday, the official said.

According to the SEC official, following the election of candidates in a large number of seats without contest, polling would now be held in 2,954 seats in 44 of the total 52 blocks across 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 highest number of candidates, 4,279, are contesting the elections on TMP tickets, followed by 2,151 candidates of the CPI (M), 1,853 of the BJP, 425 of the Congress, 356 of the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), 753 Independents and candidates of other parties, and three candidates of the CPI.

The SEC earlier announced that the 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.

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.

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