Agartala, June 30: The ruling CPM in Tripura has already won 29.47 per cent of the panchayat seats without any contest amid allegations of political terror and irregularities. The Opposition Congress, Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura and BJP have alleged that the CPM has captured these seats by unleashing political terror and by having valid nomination papers of their candidates cancelled by biased officials of the election department.
An initial picture in this regard emerged from final computations made by officials of the state election commission after scrutiny of nomination papers was over late last night.
Sources in the commission said the CPM had won unopposed five of the 82 seats in four zilla parishads, four of the 23 panchayat samities (Jirania, Melaghar, Kakraban and Amarpur in West and South districts) and 1,577 seats in 135 of the 513 gaon panchayats, which have 5,352 seats. They said this was because the Opposition parties had failed to file nomination papers, though in certain cases the nominations were cancelled at the time of scrutiny.
Elections to the remaining 77 seats in zilla parishads, 19 panchayat samities and 378 gaon panchayats having altogether 3,775 seats will be held on July 18 after the last date for withdrawing nominations expires tomorrow. The counting of ballots will take place on July 21 and the entire process of constituting a new three-tier panchayat will be completed by July 31, state election commissioner G.K. Rao said. Apart from this, the Jaynagar gaon panchayat under Jirania block in Sadar subdivision will be an all-women panchayat, having nine members, Rao said. The CPM has put up nominations for all the nine seats in five wards of the panchayat and that there is no candidate from the Opposition, he added.
Rao, however, asserted that the entire picture was not available because information from the remote areas had still not reached the state election commission headquarters.
PCC president Birajit Sinha alleged that the CPM was perpetrating terror, as a result of which Congress and other Opposition candidates had failed to file nomination papers in many places.
“There are also places where our workers and supporters braved the terror and filed papers, but biased officials in charge of the election cancelled valid nomination papers at the instance of the CPM,” he added.
Sinha said barring five, all nomination papers filed by the Congress in Satchand block had been cancelled. In Damdama, Bijaynagar, West Harina and Battala gaon panchayats, where the Opposition was united, all their nominations were cancelled.