Tripura Political Parties Gearing Up For Panchayat Poll

A Correspondent

Agartala: Though the State Election Commission is yet to announce the dates for panchyat elections in the State, all the political parties are gearing up to face the challenge. The commission has already published the final list of polling booths and the voters’ list, but the date for polling is yet to be declared.

However, sources in the commission indicate that the election may be held on July 28.

This election is a major test for the ruling BJP to prove that its support base remained intact while for the Congress it remains a major challenge.

Upbeat with the massive victory in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is very much alert so that the rank and file don’t become complacent while the Congress is also gearing up their workers to maintain the upward trend it registered in the Lok Sabha polls when its vote share rose to 27 per cent from less than 2 per cent in the Assembly election last year.

On the other hand, the CPI(M) that suffered a huge loss of vote share in the last Lok Sabha election, is yet to recover from the depression.

Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb who is also the State president of the BJP, has already held a meeting with all the State and district level ‘karyakartas’ and instructed them to arrange the poll machinery so that the party can project a better performance compared to Lok Sabha polls.

A 13-member committee was formed under the leadership of Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath to finalize the poll strategy as well as nomination of candidates. The committee has already instructed all the mandals in the panchayat areas to send their list of proposed candidates by June 21 so that the party can release the list by June end.

PCC president Pardyot Bikram Kishor Debbarman also held a meeting of the extended Pradesh Congress Committee and instructed all the block committees to accept applications from the persons who want to contest the election and to send them to the PCC.

Also Read: Tripura polls: Can it herald a political change?