Local body polls in NE deferred

Agartala/Guwahati: Various polls to the autonomous and local bodies in Northeastern region have been postponed indefinitely due to the situation arising out of the nationwide lockdown to check the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), officials said on Friday.
According to the officials, the politically important elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in western Assam and municipal and panchayat elections in Arunachal Pradesh have been put on hold for indefinite period.
In Agartala, the Tribal Welfare Department in a notification on Thursday night postponed the elections to the TTAADC.
“The term of the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist)-led TTAADC would expire on May 17 and the elections are expected to be held in April end or early May,” Chief Executive Member of the TTAADC, Radhacharan Debbarma told IANS.
In Assam, on the recommendations of the state government, the State Election Commission put off the 40-member BTC polls, scheduled to be held on April 4. Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi, who is the constitutional head of the Sixth Schedule areas like that of BTC, had also earlier suggested postponement of the council polls.
In Arunachal Pradesh, on the advice of the state Health Department, the State Election Commission has postponed the polling to the three-tier panchayats, along with the elections to the Itanagar and Pasighat municipal councils, which are due since May 2018.
“Conducting of elections would involve a large number of public gatherings in different parts of the state, campaigns and rallies at various locations. These could be detrimental for the public health due to the possible spread of novel coronavirus,” State Election Commissioner, Hage Kojeen, said. (IANS)