More than 80 per cent of 6.65 lakh eligible voters turned out on Monday to elect members of Village Committees across the TTAADC areas in Tripura, with polling continuing beyond the scheduled closing time at several locations and sporadic violence reported in Gomati district.
Key Takeaways
- More than 80% of 6.65 lakh eligible voters cast their ballots in TTAADC Village Committee elections.
- Polling remained largely peaceful, though firing and clashes injured people in Gomati district.
- Voting took place for 2,950 seats across 44 blocks, with counting scheduled for Oct 5.
Tripura recorded a strong voter response on Monday as Village Committee elections returned after a decade, with men and women turning up in large numbers at polling stations across the state’s tribal areas.
Voting began at 7 a.m. and officially ended at 4 p.m. However, the election process continued beyond the scheduled closing time at several locations. More than 8,000 voters were still waiting in queues across 40 blocks when polling hours ended, according to a senior Tripura State Election Commission (TSEC) official.
The election covered 2,950 seats in 587 Village Committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).
Polling Sees High Voter Participation
Around 6.65 lakh voters were eligible to cast their ballots at 1,095 polling stations spread across eight districts.
Large queues formed outside polling stations well before voting began. Most of the voters belonged to tribal communities in the TTAADC areas.
The elections followed a 10-year gap and came after directions from the Supreme Court. The polls hold importance for local governance in the tribal areas administered by the TTAADC.
The TSEC had notified 4,597 seats across 587 Village Committees. Candidates won 1,644 seats uncontested, while no nominations were filed for three seats.
A total of 8,176 candidates contested the remaining seats.
Violence Reported in Gomati
While polling remained largely peaceful across the tribal areas, Gomati district witnessed some incidents of violence.
In one incident, unidentified persons opened fire and injured two people, including a Tipra Motha Party (TMP) candidate. The injured were shifted to a hospital, officials said.
In another incident at the Gamaria school strong room in Gomati district, Superintendent of Police Anirban Das and several other police personnel suffered injuries during a clash with political party activists.
Officials said the other seven districts recorded largely peaceful polling.
Tight Security Across Eight Districts
Authorities strengthened security at sensitive and remote polling stations. Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel guarded vulnerable locations.
A total of 7,458 polling personnel worked in 1,243 teams to manage election-related duties at polling stations.
More than 15,000 Central and state security personnel were deployed across the eight districts to maintain law and order during polling.
The deployment included 74 CAPF companies with nearly 5,000 personnel. Around 10,000 personnel from the Tripura State Rifles and Tripura Police also took part in the security arrangements.
Election authorities used four colours of ballot papers — white, light pink, light green and light blue — for different categories of seats.
BJP-Led Alliance Faces Opposition Parties
The ruling BJP contested the elections alongside its two tribal allies, the TMP and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT).
The alliance faced the CPI-M-led Left Front and the Congress.
The TSEC said the TMP secured 1,557 seats uncontested. That accounts for 33.87 per cent of the total seats notified for the elections.
The BJP secured 81 seats without a contest, representing 1.76 per cent.
After uncontested victories and the withdrawal of nominations by 1,069 candidates from various parties, including the TMP, BJP and CPI-M, voters went to the polls for 2,950 seats.
The voting covered 44 of the 52 blocks across all eight districts.
Village Committees and TTAADC
Village Committees serve a role equivalent to Gram Panchayats in areas outside the TTAADC and non-tribal regions.
The TTAADC, which governs the tribal areas, has 30 members. It comprises 28 elected members and two members nominated by the state government.
The Tipra Motha Party, led by former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, has governed the council since 2021.
The TTAADC came into existence on April 1, 1985, under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution following the 49th Amendment.
The autonomous council covers nearly two-thirds of 10,491 sq km area of the State. More than 12.16 lakh people live within its jurisdiction, with indigenous communities accounting for around 84 per cent of the population.
Counting on October 5
The Village Committee election process will now move to the counting stage. The TSEC has scheduled the counting of votes for October 5. The results will determine the composition of the Village Committees across the state’s tribal areas. (Edited by Enewstime Desk)