Left Front sweeps Tripura Council polls

Agartala:  The ruling Left Front on Wednesday won all the 28 seats of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) for the third consecutive terms, official sources said today.
“Of the 28 seats, CPI-M won 25 seats and Communist Party of India (CPI), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Forward Bloc (FB) won one seat each”, Secretary of the State Election Commission, Tamal Majumder said. The Left Front had also won all the 28 seats in 2010. The tribal council constitutes two-third of the state territory and is home to the tribals, who form one-third of the state’s population. Two seats are nominated by the Governor at the advice of the state government in the 30-member tribal council and 28 seats are won by direct contest.
The prominent winners are Ranjit Debbarma, Chief Executive Member of the outgoing TTAADC, executive members Radha Charan Debbarma, Sandhya Rani Chakma, Ranabir Debbarma and Shantanu Jamatia and Dhirendra Reang . The TTAADC came into being in January 1982 under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and was given more autonomy under the Sixth Schedule in August 1984 to safeguard political, economic and cultural interests of tribals. Secretary of the ruling CPI-M, Bijan Dhar said this result was people’s verdict in favour of peace, tranquility and development and against divisive forces. Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), which came second in 17 seats, had given a call for a separate tribal state in the TTAADC area.  (PTI)