Tripura civic polls: 859 candidates clear scrutiny, 49 papers rejected

Scrutiny of nomination papers for Tripura's urban local body elections ended on Monday with 859 candidates found valid, The News Mill reported, citing the State Election Commission (SEC).

A total of 1,109 nomination papers were filed by 879 candidates for the Agartala Municipal Corporation and 20 other municipal councils and nagar panchayats. Forty-nine nomination papers, belonging to 20 candidates, were rejected.

Party-wise valid candidates

According to SEC Secretary Anurag Sen, the valid candidates are:

• BJP: 342
• CPI(M): 251
• Congress: 216
• Tipra Motha Party: 15
• Others and independents: 35

The final list of candidates will be clear after the deadline to withdraw nominations ends on November 10.

Where the contests are

The 51-ward Agartala Municipal Corporation has the most valid candidates, at 164. It is followed by Dharmanagar Municipal Council (75), Udaipur Municipal Council (64), Kailashahar Municipal Council (54), Ambassa Municipal Council (47) and Belonia Municipal Council (45).

SEC on security and deadline

State Election Commissioner Pradip Chakraborty said security arrangements for the filing of nominations were already in place before the Tripura High Court issued its directions. He said that, in line with the court's order to protect candidates during filing, officials of the Urban Development Department, district municipal officers and returning officers had been told to ensure adequate security.

Responding to demands that the nomination deadline be extended, Chakraborty said the High Court had not ordered any extension, and that the commission had not placed any restrictions or obstacles in the way of candidates filing their papers.

Background

The nomination phase was marked by complaints from the opposition. The CPI(M) had alleged that its candidates were attacked in Kamalpur on nomination day and that several of its nominees could not file their papers. The BJP and Tipra Motha are contesting together as NDA partners.

After a party meeting in Dharmanagar on Monday, Chief Minister Manik Saha said he expects the BJP to win at least 13 of the 25 wards under the Dharmanagar Municipal Council and Panisagar Nagar Panchayat, Tripura Chronicle reported.