BJP wins 70% seats unopposed in Tripura 3-tier panchayat polls

Agartala: BJP in Tripura has secured 70% of the seats in the three-tier panchayats without contest after the withdrawal of nominations on Tuesday, state election commissioner Sharadindu Choudhuri said.
The three-tier panchayats consist of 6,370 seats in 606 gram panchayats, 423 seats in 35 panchayat samitis and 116 seats in eight zilla parishads, with a 33% reservation for women.A total of 12,94,153 voters, including over 6.35 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes.
Reports indicate that BJP has won 4,550 out of 6,370 gram panchayat seats, 235 out of 423 panchayat samiti seats, and 20 out of 116 zilla parishad seats uncontested. “In statistics, BJP won 71% of gram panchayat, 55% of panchayat samiti and 17% of zilla parishad seats uncontested. Therefore, the remaining seats in the panchayats would go for polling on August 8,” Choudhuri said.
After finalising the candidatures, the gram panchayat elections will be held for 1,819 seats, as polling will not be conducted immediately for one seat in Maheskhala Panchayat in West Tripura due to the death of the BJP candidate after submitting his nomination. In the gram panchayat elections, BJP has fielded candidates in 1,818 seats, while CPM and Congress have put up candidates in 1,222 and 731 seats, respectively. BJP’s ally in the govt, TIPRA Motha, has fielded candidates in 138 seats.