Reported by: Mrinal Banik

Agartala: Candidates of the ruling alliance BJP and Tipra Motha Party (TMP) have been elected unopposed in 1,179 seats in the ongoing Village Committee elections under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), accounting for nearly 25 per cent of the total 4,597 seats, data from the state election commission reveals.

The data shows that Tipra Motha Party candidates have won a total of 1,148 seats while BJP candidates have been elected unopposed in 31 seats.

The highest number of unopposed TMP candidates has been recorded in Jampuijala block of Sepahijala district, where 212 candidates have been elected unopposed.

In Hezamara block of West Tripura district, 149 TMP candidates have been elected unopposed, followed by 109 in Belbari, also in West Tripura.

In Padmabil block of Khowai district, 104 TMP candidates have been elected unopposed, while 91 have been elected unopposed in Mandwi and 80 in Lefunga, both in West Tripura.

Other significant figures include 82 unopposed TMP candidates in Tulashikhar, 67 in Mungiakami and 37 in Kalyanpur in Khowai district, and 35 in Charilam and 16 in Nalchar in Sepahijala district.

BJP candidates have been elected unopposed in 31 seats across the blocks listed in the data. The party has three unopposed candidates each in Amarpur, Tulashikhar and Hezamara, and two each in Karbook, Padmabil, Dasda, Lajuri, Jiraniya and Kumarghat.

One BJP candidate has been elected unopposed in Kalyanpur, Teliamura, Jampuijala, Jampui Hill, Bokafa and Hrishyamukh.

According to the separate party-wise nomination data, a total of 10,889 nomination papers were submitted for the Village Committee elections.

TMP submitted 4,361 nominations, followed by CPI(M) with 2,456, BJP with 1,971, IPFT with 483, INC with 465, CPI with four and other candidates with 1,149.

The unopposed results cover 1,179 of the 4,597 Village Committee seats. The remaining seats will be decided through the electoral process.

The last date of withdrawal of nominations is scheduled for September 11 while the elections are scheduled for September 28. The counting of the ballots is slated for October 05.

The election process will be completed by October 08.

It has to be noted here that the VC elections are being held after a gap of 10 years with the intervention of the Supreme Court.