BJP bags 77 civic seats unopposed ahead of Tripura polls

The BJP has won 77 seats in five civic bodies of Tripura unopposed following nomination filing and scrutiny of papers for the November 27 polls, an official said on Wednesday.
The deadline for nomination submission for election to 345 seats in 21 civic bodies in the state, including the Agartala Municipal Corporation, ended on November 7. The scrutiny of nomination papers was held on Tuesday.Now, the voting will be held in 268 seats, which are set to witness a triangular fight among the BJP-led NDA, CPI(M) and the Congress.
State Election Commissioner (SEC), P K Chakravarty, said 810 candidates are in the fray for 268 seats of the civic bodies. Voting will be held on November 27, and counting is scheduled on December 3.The BJP has the highest number of candidates at 342, while the CPI(M) and the Congress have 218 and 201 nominees, respectively, he said.
According to the state election commission, BJP won 77 seats of five civic bodies unopposed. These civic bodies were Mohanpur, Kamalpur, Jirania, Ranirbazar and Santirbazar.“Following allegations of forceful withdrawal of nominations, we sought reports from the district magistrate and superintendent of police of Dhalai. Ground reports show that there was no such instance at Ambassa or elsewhere in Dhalai district,” Chakravarty said.However, CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury claimed the party candidates at Ambassa were forced to withdraw nominations on Tuesday following threats, intimidation and attacks on the residences.