Daijiworld Media Network - Agartala
Agartala, Nov 10: As many as 77 ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates have been declared elected unopposed in Tripura ahead of the November 27 Urban Local Body (ULB) elections, following the completion of the withdrawal of candidature process on Tuesday afternoon, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.
A senior SEC official said that 65 BJP candidates were declared elected unopposed in five municipal bodies as no opposition or other political parties had fielded candidates in these seats. The municipal bodies include Kamalpur in Dhalai district, Santir Bazar in South Tripura district, and Ranir Bazar, Jirania and Mohanpur in West Tripura district.
Besides these, BJP candidates secured another 12 seats unopposed in three municipal bodies located in Ambassa in Dhalai district, Teliamura in Khowai district and Bishalgarh in Sepahijala district.
Meanwhile, opposition CPI(M) and Congress leaders alleged that their candidates were threatened by ruling party workers and that their proposers were also intimidated to prevent them from contesting the elections in the five municipal bodies.
CPI(M) Tripura State Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury alleged that BJP workers and activists attacked Left Front leaders, candidates and supporters to prevent them from filing nominations and contesting the ULB elections.
He claimed that a series of violent incidents had taken place across several districts, leaving more than 20 CPI(M) leaders and members injured.
Despite repeated written complaints and requests, neither the police nor SEC officials had taken adequate steps to prevent the attacks or initiate action against those responsible, Chaudhury alleged.
He further claimed that the state police had failed to comply with a Tripura High Court order directing security arrangements for opposition candidates.
Congress Working Committee member Sudip Roy Barman and Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha also levelled similar allegations, accusing the ruling party of resorting to intimidation and violence to undermine the electoral process.
Earlier, the CPI(M) and Congress had attempted to reach an understanding to jointly contest the November 27 elections. However, several rounds of discussions between the two parties failed to produce an agreement.
The politically significant elections will be held in 16 of Tripura's 21 Urban Local Bodies across all eight districts, including the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), on November 27.
According to the SEC, a total of 6,29,903 voters, including 3,21,743 women, 3,08,115 men and 45 third-gender voters, are eligible to cast their votes.
The terms of all 21 Urban Local Bodies, including the Agartala Municipal Corporation, are scheduled to expire on December 9.
Following the unopposed election of 77 BJP candidates, polling will take place in the remaining 268 seats out of the total 345 seats across the 16 ULBs.
The Agartala Municipal Corporation alone has 51 seats. Of the 345 seats across the state's 21 Urban Local Bodies, 162 have been reserved for women, 80 for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates and nine for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates.
Counting of votes will be taken up on December 2.