08 august 2024 : The three-tier panchayat elections in Tripura commenced at 7 am on Thursday, accompanied by stringent security measures, with the State Election Commission (SEC) reporting a voter turnout of 61.83 percent by 2 pm.
A significant number of panchayat areas in Tripura are not participating in the elections, as the ruling BJP secured 71 percent of the Gram Panchayat seats, 68 percent of the Panchayat Samiti seats, and 17 percent of the Zilla Parishad seats uncontested. In the previous elections of 2019, the BJP had achieved over 95 percent of the rural local body seats, including 86 percent of the Gram Panchayat seats, without facing any opposition.
An SEC official informed indianexpress.com that the voter turnout was recorded at 6.57 percent by 8 am, increasing to 24.97 percent by 10 am and reaching 44.01 percent by noon. Although the official stated that there were no reports of violence, an election agent representing an Independent candidate sustained injuries due to local conflicts in Dhanpur, located in the Sepahijala district, which was previously the stronghold of former chief minister Manik Sarkar until his departure from electoral politics last year.
Local MLA Bindu Debnath was observed engaging with voters and election agents in the Bhabanipur area of Sepahijala district amid accusations that his supporters had been involved in violent confrontations with election agents and voters representing Independent candidates.
An election agent for an Independent candidate in the region reported that he attempted to prevent a senior BJP leader from committing a ‘chappa vote’ or fraudulent voting when the leader’s supporters allegedly attacked him, resulting in a broken nose and other injuries.
In a statement to indianexpress.com, MLA Bindu Debnath refuted the allegations, asserting that BJP panchayat candidate Shakti Dutta, along with his election agents and several known voters, were assaulted by a coalition of Independent candidates and CPI(M) supporters who purportedly conspired against the BJP.
“They attacked our candidate, causing head injuries. We had to transport him to the Kathalia block hospital for medical attention. Voting was subsequently suspended in the area.