Agartala: The upcoming village committee elections under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council are set for a competitive but uneven contest, with TIPRA Motha emerging as the dominant force after the completion of the nomination process.According to State Election Commission data, TIPRA Motha candidates have filed nominations for 4,390 of the 4,597 seats across 587 Village Committees — nearly 95.5% of the total.BJP has submitted nominations for 1,974 seats, or 42.9%, despite entering into alliances with tribal-based parties in the hill areas. The opposition CPM has emerged as the second-largest party in terms of nominations, fielding candidates for 2,487 seats, or 54.1%.Independent candidates have submitted nominations for 1,251 seats, accounting for 27.2% of the total. The BJP’s ally IPFT has nominated candidates for 486 seats, or 10.6%, while the Congress has filed nominations for 466 seats, or 10.1%.The elections are scheduled to be held on Sept 28.In several areas, the contest is expected to be primarily between TIPRA Motha and the CPM, while the BJP, IPFT and Congress have a limited presence or have not fielded candidates.A clear example has emerged in Lefunga block in West Tripura, where, according to Returning Officer Prasenjit Bhowmik, candidates of the BJP, IPFT, CPM and Congress did not submit nominations in 10 Village Committees.TIPRA Motha candidates have consequently emerged as the sole nominees in those constituencies.
