CORRESPONDENT
AGARTALA: The BJP-TIPRA Motha alliance was set to register a landslide victory in the elections to 587 Village Committees as counting progressed at 45 centres across the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council amid reports of violent incidents in different places. Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha said the NDA was set to win more than 90 per cent of the villages.
The final figures were yet to be released by the State Election Commission, but local reports indicated that TIPRA Motha was heading for a landslide victory in the maximum number of Village Committees, while its alliance partner, the BJP, was a distant second. The Opposition CPI(M) and Congress had a negligible presence in the Village Committees, as by noon neither had reached double digits.
Though the results were going as expected, the counting of votes was marred by reports of violence from different places. In Tulasikhar under Khowai subdivision, police had to resort to lathi-charge on a group of TIPRA Motha supporters who allegedly tried to enter the counting centre. Several people sustained injuries, with some of them having to be admitted to hospitals.
Another report from the Thalibari area of Sonamura subdivision said a group of people pelted stones at the vehicle of IG (Law and Order) Monchak Ippar when he was proceeding towards the Thalibari Strong Room, where the ballot boxes were kept. It was learnt that the windscreen of the vehicle was damaged, though the officer escaped unhurt. Police were also in the dark about why the mob targeted the police vehicle.
Reports of violence also came from some other places, where counting agents of Opposition political parties and even those of the TIPRA Motha alliance partner were allegedly prevented from entering the counting centres.
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