Agartala, July 11 (IANS): The issuance of the notification on Thursday kick-started the process of the three-phase gram panchayat elections in Tripura with political parties busy selecting thousands of candidates and formulating strategies.
The three-phase gram panchayat elections in Tripura will be held on August 8 and the counting of votes will take place on August 12.
Announcing the election dates on Wednesday, State Election Commissioner Saradindu Chaudhuri said a formal notice would be issued on Thursday and the last day to file nominations was July 18, with examination taking place the following day. The last date for withdrawing candidature is July 22.
Virajit Sinha, a senior member of the Indian National Congress party, said his party would form an electoral alliance with the CPI-M-led Left parties, as it did in last year’s state assembly elections, to defeat the ruling BJP and win the maximum number of seats.
Meanwhile, state Congress leader Ashish Kumar Saha and Congress Working Committee member and state Congress MP Sudip Roy Burman on Thursday alleged that “miscreans” from the ruling BJP have been targeting candidates and Congress supporters since the panchayat election dates were announced on Wednesday. They alleged that tension is building ahead of the panchayat elections as the ruling BJP has failed to fulfil many promises to the people, lacks sufficient support base and is resorting to violence to instil fear and rig the results of local body polls.
Congress leaders, however, have vowed that the party will do all it can to stop such unfair tactics and ensure that candidates contest elections fairly.
“We are witnessing an unprecedented wave of violence and intimidation by BJP goons and activists against their supporters and candidates,” Saha said, adding, “This is a blatant attempt by the ruling party to undermine the democratic process and intimidate opposition candidates.”
In the last panchayat elections held on July 27, 2019, the ruling BJP won more than 95 percent of the seats, 86 percent of which were won unopposed, sparking protests from the opposition. The opposition parties have demanded that the panchayat elections be held with maximum security and that nomination papers be allowed to be submitted via email.
There are 6,370 seats in 606 gram panchayats, 423 seats in 35 panchayat samitis and 116 seats in eight zilla parishads, of which 33 per cent are reserved for women.
