Political parties in Tripura have started preparations for the elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) on a war footing.

Meetings galore within respective party forums to discuss strategy and prepare for elections to the TTAADC.

The BJP held a top level meeting of the State party leaders, which was supervised by BJP’s Tripura in-charge Vinod Sonkar, at the party’s State headquarters in Agartala.

The meeting was also attended by senior BJP leaders of Tripura, including Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Debbarma, BJP State President Manik Saha and General Secretary Papiya Datta.

Preparations and chalking out strategy for the TTAADC elections was the primary agenda of the meeting.

Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Debbarma exuded confidence of BJP’s good show in the Council elections.

Jishnu Debbarma said, “The BJP-led Tripura Government has done a lot for the areas under TTAADC. Now we need to highlight the works of the Government to the people of TTAADC areas.”

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The term of the previous TTAADC Government came to an end on May 17 last year.

However, elections to the Council could not be held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Administration of the TTAADC was handed over to the Tripura Governor for six months, and later extended for another six months on November 17.

Delay in holding of elections to the TTAADC was severely criticised by the opposition parties in the State.

The Congress demanded the State government to approach the State Election Commission to declare polling dates for the TTAADC.

Tripura High Court too also expressed dismay over the delay in holding of elections to the TTAADC and sought response from the Tripura Government, State Election Commission, Election Commission of India (ECI), Tripura Governor and others while hearing a plea challenging delay in conducting the Council polls.

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The TTAADC is governed by a Council of 30 members.

Out of 30 members, 28 are elected through adult suffrage, while 2 are nominated by the Governor.

Out of 28 elected seats, 25 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

Notably, areas falling under TTAADC are considered to be a stronghold of the CPI-M.

CPI-M had been ruling the TTAADC for the past 15 years, with no other parties in the State being able to secure even a single seat in the Council.

Elections to the TTAADC are expected to be held by April-May.

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