Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday said claims about the Supreme Court’s decision on holding simultaneous elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) and village committees were misleading.
He asserted that the apex court has not issued any such directive so far.
Speaking to reporters after attending a programme at the Tripura Institution for Transformation (TIFT), Saha said media reports suggesting simultaneous elections to the TTAADC and village committees were misleading.
“The way the facts were presented creates an impression that someone tried to mislead the people. As far as I know, the Supreme Court has not passed any directions yet. The matter is still sub judice,” he said.
The chief minister said the Supreme Court had only sought the state government’s views on holding the polls simultaneously. “The court asked whether the state government has any objection to conducting the elections together. We will file our response,” he added.
Saha also spoke about the delay in village committee elections. He said the state government alone could not take responsibility, as the polls have remained pending since 2016.
“The VC elections have been pending since 2016. Our government cannot be held solely accountable. The TTAADC administration must also admit its lapses. It proposed a list of 123 additional village committees and later withdrew it,” he said.
Saha’s remarks came a day after Tipra Motha Party founder and ADC Reforms Committee chairman Pradyot Kishore Debbarman claimed that the Supreme Court had directed the State Election Commission to hold elections to 28 general seats of the TTAADC along with polls to 587 village committees.
“A huge victory for us as the Supreme Court today has directed the State Election Commission to conduct VC elections along with the TTAADC elections simultaneously. After 10 years, elections will be held at the VC level,” Debbarman wrote on his official social media handle.