Agartala: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a significant lead ahead of the upcoming Urban Local Body (ULB) elections in Tripura. The party has won 77 seats without contest. The municipal elections in the state are scheduled for November 27th. After the withdrawal process concluded on Tuesday, November 10th, the Tripura State Election Commission (SEC) declared these BJP candidates elected unopposed.
According to a senior State Election Commission official, the opposition or any other political party did not field candidates for 65 seats in five municipal bodies. These include Kamalpur in Dhalai district, Shantir Bazar in South Tripura, and Ranir Bazar, Jirania, and Mohanpur in West Tripura. BJP candidates were declared elected unopposed in all 65 seats.
BJP candidates also won 12 other seats unopposed, including Ambassa in Dhalai district, Teliamura in Khowai district, and Bishalgarh in Sipahijala district.
However, the opposition has questioned the BJP’s victory. The CPI and Congress have accused the ruling party of resorting to intimidation and violence in several areas to prevent opposition candidates from contesting.
CPI and Congress allege intimidation of candidates
Opposition leaders allege that their party candidates were intimidated by individuals associated with the ruling BJP. Furthermore, pressure was exerted on proposers of opposition candidates to prevent them from participating in the election process.
CPI Tripura State Secretary and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Jitendra Chowdhury, alleged that BJP workers and supporters attacked Left Front leaders, candidates, and supporters to prevent them from contesting the urban body elections.
He claimed that incidents of violence had occurred in several districts of the state, in which more than 20 CPI leaders and workers were injured. Chowdhury also alleged that despite repeated written complaints and demands for action, the police and State Election Commission had not taken adequate steps to stop the attacks and prosecute those responsible.
The Left leader also alleged that the state police had failed to comply with the Tripura High Court’s order directing them to provide security to opposition candidates.
Congress Working Committee member Sudip Roy Barman and Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee President Ashish Kumar Saha also made similar allegations. They accused the ruling BJP of using intimidation and violence to influence the electoral process.
However, these allegations were made by opposition parties, while State Election Commission officials had confirmed the number of candidates elected unopposed after the nomination withdrawal process.
Elections to be held in 16 urban local bodies in Tripura
Elections will be held on November 27 in 16 of the 21 urban local bodies spread across eight districts in Tripura. This includes the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC).
Earlier, the CPI and Congress had attempted to reach a consensus to contest the elections together. However, despite several rounds of talks, the two parties failed to reach an agreement and were unable to finalize a joint election strategy.
Out of a total of 345 seats, 77 BJP candidates have been elected unopposed. Voting will now take place in the remaining 268 seats.
Over 6.29 Lakh Voters to Cast Votes
According to a State Election Commission official, a total of 629,903 voters will be eligible to exercise their franchise in the November 27 elections. These include 321,743 women, 308,115 men, and 45 third-gender voters.
The Agartala Municipal Corporation has a total of 51 seats. Of the 345 seats in the state’s 21 urban local bodies, 162 are reserved for women. 80 seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates and 9 for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates.
The term of all 21 urban local bodies, including the Agartala Municipal Corporation, is set to expire on December 9.
When will the Tripura civic body election results be announced?
Voting for the remaining seats will be held on November 27, with vote counting taking place on December 2.
77 BJP candidates have already been declared elected unopposed. The contest for the remaining seats will determine which political party will have the largest share of the state’s urban local bodies. Meanwhile, the fairness of the election process has become a topic of debate following allegations leveled by the CPI and Congress.