Hold VC elections with ADC polls: Top court to Tripura SEC

Agartala: The Supreme Court has directed the Tripura State Election Commission (SEC) to hold the long-overdue village committee (VC) elections together with the forthcoming Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections, which are scheduled to be held soon.In Oct last year, Tipra Motha approached the Supreme Court regarding the stalled VC elections. Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarman said the apex court’s ruling signifies a turning point for local self-governance in tribal regions, effectively ending nearly 10 years of delays in conducting VC elections.He said the state govt and election officials are now obligated to adhere to the Supreme Court’s order and cannot disregard the apex court’s directive, as he alleged they did previously when the issue was presented to the Tripura high court.Debbarman characterised this development as “a monumental victory for us and for the democratic rights of the Tiprasa people” when speaking to party supporters. He stressed that the directive mandates the State Election Commission to arrange for the village committee elections, which are being conducted in coordination with the TTAADC elections, reinstating village-level governance after years of administrative stagnation.

However, chief minister Manik Saha contradicted Pradyot and clarified that the Supreme Court sought to know whether the state had any objections to conduct the polls simultaneously. “We shall file our response,” Saha said.The CM also said the delay in VC elections was not caused by the govt alone. “The VC elections have been pending since 2016. So, our govt couldn’t be held accountable unilaterally. Moreover, the TTAADC administration also has to admit the lapses from their end. They had proposed a list of 123 additional village committees and later withdrew the list,” he added.