It’s a landslide victory for the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front in the recently held Panchayat Election in Tripura. The ruling party bagged all the Panchayat Samitis and Zilla Parishads. The left parties secured majority in 480 of the total of 513 Gram Panchayats.

State Election Commission sources revealed that the CPI(M)-led ruling Left Front secured majority in all the four Zila Parishads and all the 23 Panchayat Samities.

Of the 82 seats in the four Zila Parishads, the Left Front got 81 seats, while only one seat has gone to opposition Congress. The Left Front wrested two seats of Zilla Parishads from the Congress this time. The Front also secured 285 of the total of 299 seats in the Panchayat Samities, while 14 seats went in favour of Congress. The Left Front earlier secured 80 seats of the Panchayat Samities unopposed. The left parties have secured majority in the 480 of the total of 513 Gram panchayats, while the remaining Panchayats were bagged by the Congress.

Both Left and Congress parties secured equal number of seats in six Gram panchayats. The Left Front wrested 25 Gram Panchayats from the Congress. The Left Front nominees secured 40 per cent seats in all the three-tier of the Panchayat Raj systems unopposed before the Panchayat Election which was held on July 18.  Thirty-three per cent of the total seats were reserved for women. Seats in all the three stages were also reserved for the tribals and the scheduled castes as per their population ratio in the respective Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samities and  zila parishads. All the major parties, including the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front, besides, the Congress, BJP, and Trinamool Congress had fielded candidates in this election. The BJP has secured a very few number of seats in the Gram Panchayats. The elections were held only in the gram panchayats falling outside the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas.

The constitution had stipulated that the village committee election would be held within the panchayats in the District Council areas. Meanwhile, life was crippled in Tripura following a 24-hour state-wide bandh called by the main opposition Congress demanding withdrawal of the ‘’false case’’ against the state party president Birajit Sinha and other party leaders. The leaders were arrested on the basis of a complaint by the ruling CPI(M) about alleged gunning down of a Left party worker and injury to two others on July 20 in North Tripura. Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) also supported the bandh. Shops, business establishments, government offices, banks, educational institutions, were closed while most of the vehicles except those of the security personnel remained off the roads.

  Chief Judicial Magistrate of North Tripura district sent the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Birajit Sinha, MLA, and two party leaders — Chandrasekhar Sinha and Mohammad Badrujjaman — and three personal security guards, to 14-day judicial custody.

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