Agartala, Jul 19 (PTI) The High Court of Tripura on Tuesday asked the State Election Commission and the state machinery to complete elections to Village Committees (VC) functioning under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) by the first week of November this year.
The elections to the 587 Village Committees (VC) are due since March 7 last year.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a division bench of the high court had asked the state government and State Election Commission (SEC) to file reply for the delay in holding election of the Village Committees.
The SEC in its affidavit stated that due to the unprecedented Covid situation, the elections could not be taken up in due time. Besides, it takes time to prepare separate voters’ lists for the Village Committees and delimitation of wards in each village committee.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice SG Chattopadhyay on Tuesday took up the case for hearing while the SEC also submitted another affidavit revealing its plan for holding village committee elections.
The bench said “Though we are not proposing any rigid timelines for this purpose, keeping in view SEC’s affidavits and the materials placed before us, we would expect SEC and state machinery to notify the date of election at the earliest and complete the entire process of village committee elections including declaration of results preferably within the first week of November, 2022”.
Tipra Motha chairman Pradyot Bikram Manikya DebBarma welcomed the high court ruling.
Debbarma said, “TIPRA warriors get ready for the Village Committee elections. We win this election, then there is no stopping our dream… .
The BJP also welcomed the High Court order on holding the elections to the Village Committee of tribal council.
It was the government’s plan to conduct the elections in the village committee at the earliest. Now, it will happen well before the High Court’s deadline. We are ready to fight the election with full force , said BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee.