Agartala, November 10: The ruling BJP has secured unopposed victories in five urban local bodies in Tripura ahead of the November 27 elections, while a total of 810 candidates are set to contest the remaining seats across 21 municipal bodies, State Election Commissioner Dr Pradip Kumar Chakraborty said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference at the State Secretariat on Tuesday evening, Chakraborty said the final list of contesting candidates was published after the withdrawal of nominations concluded at 3 pm today.
The five urban local bodies where BJP candidates have been declared elected unopposed are Shantibazar Municipal Council, Ranirbazar Municipal Council, Mohanpur Municipal Council, Jirania Nagar Panchayat and Kamalpur Nagar Panchayat. The respective Returning Officers have already declared the results for these bodies, he said.
According to the Election Commission, BJP has fielded 342 candidates, while the CPI(M) has 228, Congress 201, TIPRA Motha 10 and other parties and independent candidates together have 29 candidates in the electoral contest.
The final figure follows the withdrawal of 49 nominations, including 23 from the CPI(M), 15 from Congress, five from TIPRA Motha and six from other parties and independent candidates. No BJP candidate withdrew from the contest.
Chakraborty said a total of 879 candidates had submitted nominations by November 6. Following scrutiny on November 7, nominations of 859 candidates were found valid. Subsequently, 49 candidates withdrew their nominations, bringing the final number of contestants to 810.
The State Election Commissioner also addressed complaints of alleged threats and intimidation against candidates in different parts of the state.
Regarding allegations of coercion against some candidates in the Udaipur area of Ambassa Municipal Council, he said the matter was referred to the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police concerned for an inquiry.
“The preliminary report received from them states that there was no instance of coercion or use of force by any individual. Therefore, the allegation has not been established,” he said.
On a separate complaint alleging threats against candidates in Belonia, Chakraborty said the matter had also been referred to the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of South Tripura district, and the Commission was awaiting their report.
He said the District Magistrate had been asked to convene a meeting with the political party concerned to ascertain its views and build confidence among local political representatives. However, the party representatives did not attend the meeting scheduled in the morning. The District Magistrate subsequently requested them to attend another meeting in the evening after the campaign concluded.
As a preventive measure, police and other security forces conducted flag marches in Belonia town and the subdivision to maintain law and order and deter any unlawful activities, he said.
Chakraborty further said the Commission had directed district administrations to ensure the deposit of licensed firearms ahead of the elections. So far, 110 licensed firearms have been deposited, while the process of collecting the remaining weapons is underway and is expected to be completed by November 13.
To monitor the election process, the Commission has deployed 23 election observers across the urban local bodies. They have already started their work in their respective areas, and their reports are awaited.
Candidates and voters can approach the respective election observers at municipal councils, Nagar Panchayats or the Agartala Municipal Corporation to lodge complaints or raise election-related issues. Complaints can also be submitted to the Returning Officers or District Election Officers for necessary action, he said.
The November 27 elections will cover 21 urban local bodies comprising 345 wards. While five urban bodies have already been decided in BJP’s favour without a contest, the electoral battle will continue in the remaining contested wards, with Agartala Municipal Corporation, comprising 51 wards, emerging as a major political battleground.
