Multi-cornered contest for TTAADC polls

Agartala: The elections to Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) slated for May 3 is all set to witness multi-corner fight in all the constituencies.
All the opposition parities including Congress, Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) are this time contesting the election on their own.
A total of 177 candidates are in fray across the 28 constituencies of TTAADC after the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers expired on April 16, Election Commissioner for district council S K Rakesh said. He said the number of candidates has been reduced to 177 from 198 after withdrawal of nomination papers by 21 candidates of different political parties. Rakesh said while 18 candidates are contesting on Trinamool Congress symbol, the BJP has fielded 28 candidates. The CPI(M) is contesting in 25 constituencies while the INPT has fielded on 28, he said.
Twenty-seven candidates from IPFT are also in the fray and the Congress is contesting in all the 28 seats, he said. While the highest number of nine candidates will be facing electoral test in Machmara and Karamcherra constituencies, Budhjungnagar constituency registered five candidates, the lowest number of candidates.
Of the total polling booths, altogether 79 polling stations have been identified as hyper sensitive while 360 booths have been marked as sensitive and remaining 632 polling stations are tagged as general category. To ensure free and fair elections, the Centre would provide 40 companies of additional central paramilitary forces to the state, the EC said. “The Centre has agreed to provide additional 40 companies of paramilitary forces to conduct the elections peacefully. All the troops will be deployed in election related duties,” he said. (PTI)