Tripura BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee.
Tripura is gearing up for its three-tier panchayat elections scheduled for Thursday, August 8, 2024. The elections are set to take place for a limited number of seats, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already secured approximately 70% of the seats uncontested.
The panchayat system in Tripura includes a total of 6,889 seats across gram panchayats, panchayat samitis, and zilla parishads, with the BJP claiming 4,805 seats unopposed.
Opposition parties, particularly the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Congress, have accused the ruling BJP of employing intimidation tactics to undermine the electoral process. The BJP has refuted these claims, attributing its uncontested victories to the perceived weakness of the opposition’s organizational structure.
The State Election Commission confirmed on Wednesday that polling teams have been dispatched to their designated locations, with voting set to commence at 7 a.m. The state police will maintain security at polling stations across the region.
A police spokesperson stated, “We have also deployed Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel in sensitive areas.” A heightened security alert has been issued for Khowai and Bishalgarh subdivisions, where some opposition candidates have managed to contest.
In the previous panchayat elections held in 2019, the BJP captured over 90% of the available seats, a result that opposition parties attributed to alleged violent coercion by the BJP.
Notably, the upcoming panchayat elections will exclude regions governed by the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which administers about three-fourths of the state’s land. In these areas, Village Committees are operational.
There has been a continued delay in conducting elections for the Village Committees, despite a court order and approval from the State Election Commission. The TIPRA Motha party, which leads the TTAADC, is awaiting a constitutional amendment concerning the Sixth Schedule provisions before proceeding with the election proposal.
