Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Agartala: Opposition parties are crying foul as Tripura prepares for the September 28 Village Committee elections. State Congress president Ashish Kumar Saha accused the BJP of using administrative muscle to rig the process. He blasted the government for replacing the State Election Commissioner right before the announcement. Saha claimed opposition candidates face intimidation, with some forced to withdraw nomination papers under pressure. He warned the Election Commission and police to stop favoring the ruling party.
Congress state in-charge Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka took the stage to challenge the status quo. He urged voters to hand the party a mandate. "If Congress fails to perform well, remove us from power," Ulaka stated. The Congress leader also slammed the BJP and Tipra Motha for ignoring public grievances while focused on their own political squabbles.
The CPI(M) joined the chorus of dissent. Opposition leader Jitendra Chaudhury claimed the five-year delay in holding these polls proves the government fears the public. During a rally in Dhalai district, Chaudhury alleged the BJP only called the vote after a court intervention. He warned against the misuse of public funds during the long vacancy. "If public money is spent, it must be spent according to law," he said.
The BJP-led NDA fired back. Welfare Minister Sudhangshu Das predicted a landslide for his coalition, which includes the Tipra Motha and the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura. Das dismissed the opposition as "anti-national communists" and a "Pakistan-loving Congress." He claimed these groups would fail to secure a single seat.
The election covers 587 Village Committees and 4,597 seats within the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. While the NDA operates as a bloc, some local seats feature friendly fights between alliance partners. Many seats were settled without a vote. The polls arrive after nearly a decade of waiting.
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