Counting votes for three-tier Gram Panchayat elections, which commenced on Monday morning at 35 counting centres across 35 blocks of the state amidst tight security, till Monday evening ruling BJP sweeps in Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samities and Gram Panchayat seats, while, opposition parties are so far secured victory only in few seats as the counting is still going on.

In Gram Panchayat elections, out of total 6370 seats, ruling BJP secured victory in 4796 seats including unopposed, while the ruling alliance Tipra-Motha secured  second position by capturing 94 seats, CPI(M) won 17 seats, Congress secured 18 seats and independent candidates has also won 8 seats.

In Panchayat Samities, out of total 423 seats, BJP got victory in 295 seats so far including unopposed, CPI(M) got 2 seats and one seat secured by an independent candidate. In the 116 Zilla Parishad seats, BJP so far got victory in 70 seats  and opposition parties secured zero victory.

 It may be recalled here that elections are not being held in a vast majority of the Panchayat areas in Tripura as the ruling BJP won 71 percent of the Gram Panchayat seats, 68 percent of the Panchayat Samities seats, and 17 percent of the Zilla Parishad seats uncontested. In 2019, the BJP had won over 96 percent of the rural local body seats, including 86 percent of Gram Panchayat seats, without a contest.

The Gram Panchayat polls recorded a 79.06 per cent turnout on Thursday and officials from the State Election Commission (SEC)  said the counting was going on peacefully. Out of 35 counting centres, the majority are located in North Tripura and Unakoti districts, with a few also in South Tripura and Sepahijala districts. Since the Panchayat polls were conducted using ballot papers, the counting was expected to take time to be completed. An official said the counting was likely to continue late into the night at some locations.

As per the SEC, the ruling BJP won 4,550 out of the 6,370 seats (71 per cent) in Gram Panchayats uncontested. Out of the 1,819 seats that went to polls on Thursday, the BJP had candidates in 1,818, the CPI(M) in 1,222, the Congress in 731, and the Tipra-Motha in 138, in addition to some Independents.

Of the 423 Panchayat Samities seats, 244 were won by the BJP uncontested (68 per cent). In the 189 contested seats, the BJP fielded candidates in 188, the CPI(M) in 148, the Congress in 98, and the TIPRA Motha in 11.

In addition, the BJP won 20 out of 116 Zilla Parishad seats (17 per cent) uncontested, while 96 seats went to polls.

Sources said that violence and pitch battle erupted among supporters of ruling BJP and opposition CPI(M) at Kathaliya block under Sepahijala district during counting votes and in the pitch battle, few supporters of both parties had suffered injuries and were admitted to a local hospital.

Police sources said that a large number of security forces were deployed to defuse tension.

Similarly, tension has also erupted disputing counting at Kalyanpur block and a group of Tipra-Motha supporters led by MLA Ranjit Debbarma has also organized road blockade demanding re-counting in few Gram Panchayat seats.

In 2019, the BJP had won over 96 percent of the rural local body seats, including 86 percent of Gram Panchayat seats, without a contest.

Meanwhile, a three-tier security cordon, consisting of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Tripura State Rifles (TSR), and police personnel, is maintained around all counting centres.

The SEC had earlier deployed 30 companies of CAPF personnel and 10 companies of Tripura Police and TSR personnel to maintain law and order and observe the election code of conduct on the poll day. Among the polling centres that went to elections, 950 were marked normal, 1,146 sensitive, and 123 hypersensitive. In addition, CAPF jawans were utilized in sensitive areas and on general law and order duties in areas close to the polling centres.

The opposition parties including CPI(M) and Congress alleged that their counting agents were assaulted and thrown out of the counting halls from many counting centres  and they also claimed that SEC failed to provide security to counting agents of opposition parties.