Daijiworld Media Network - Agartala
Agartala, Nov 11: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured 77 seats unopposed in Tripura's upcoming Urban Local Body (ULB) elections, scheduled to be held on November 27. The State Election Commission (SEC) declared the party's candidates elected unopposed following the completion of the withdrawal of nominations on November 10.
According to a senior SEC official, no opposition or other political parties had fielded candidates in 65 seats across five municipal bodies. These include Kamalpur in Dhalai district, Santir Bazar in South Tripura, and Ranir Bazar, Jirania and Mohanpur in West Tripura. As a result, all 65 BJP candidates in these seats were declared elected unopposed.
The BJP secured another 12 seats across three municipal bodies in Ambassa in Dhalai district, Teliamura in Khowai district and Bishalgarh in Sepahijala district.
The unopposed victories have triggered allegations from the Opposition, with the CPI and Congress accusing the ruling party of using intimidation and violence to prevent their candidates from entering the electoral contest.
CPI Tripura State Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury alleged that BJP workers and supporters had targeted Left Front leaders, candidates and party members to discourage them from contesting the elections. He claimed that more than 20 CPI leaders and members were injured in incidents reported across several districts.
Chaudhury further alleged that repeated complaints submitted to the police and the SEC had failed to result in adequate action. He also claimed that the state police had not complied with a Tripura High Court order directing them to provide security to opposition candidates.
Congress Working Committee member Sudip Roy Barman and Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha also accused the ruling party of using intimidation and violence to affect the electoral process. These allegations have been raised by opposition leaders.
The civic elections will be conducted on November 27 in 16 of Tripura's 21 urban local bodies across all eight districts. The Agartala Municipal Corporation is among the civic bodies going to polls.
The CPI and Congress had earlier held discussions to explore a joint electoral arrangement but failed to reach an agreement after several rounds of talks.
With 77 candidates already declared elected unopposed, polling will be held for the remaining 268 seats. The SEC has stated that 6,29,903 voters are eligible to cast their votes, including 3,21,743 women, 3,08,115 men and 45 voters belonging to the third-gender category.
The Agartala Municipal Corporation has 51 seats, while 162 of the total 345 seats across the 21 urban local bodies have been reserved for women. Another 80 seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates and nine for Scheduled Tribe candidates.
The terms of all 21 urban local bodies, including the Agartala Municipal Corporation, are scheduled to end on December 9.
Polling for the remaining seats will take place on November 27, while counting of votes is scheduled for December 2.