A day after the Tripura State Election Commission (SEC) announced the schedule for elections to the Village Committees within the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), hectic political activities have begun, with the ruling BJP and the opposition CPI(M) stepping up their preparations for the crucial polls.
AGARTALA — A day after the Tripura State Election Commission (SEC) announced the schedule for elections to the Village Committees within the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), hectic political activities have begun, with the ruling BJP and the opposition CPI(M) stepping up their preparations for the crucial polls.
Elections to 4,597 seats under 2,634 constituencies in 587 Village Committees -- equivalent to Gram Panchayats in the non-TTAADC areas -- will be held on September 28 after a gap of 10 years.
Four central BJP leaders -- National General Secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santhosh, the party's Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, Northeast Co-Coordinator Rajiv Babbar and observer Rajdeep Roy -- arrived in Agartala on Tuesday and held a series of meetings with state leaders to discuss preparations and strategies for the Village Committee elections.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, state BJP President Abhishek Debroy and other senior party leaders attended the meetings.
The main opposition CPI(M) is also holding meetings in various districts to finalise its strategies for the politically important elections. Leader of Opposition (LoP) and CPI(M) state Secretary Jitendra Chaudhury, welcoming the announcement of the September 28 Village Committee elections, said that his party is also ready to contest the vital polls.
Congress has also held a series of meetings to prepare the party for the local body elections.
Meanwhile, the state election authorities on Tuesday issued the statutory notifications for the Village Committee elections in the TTAADC areas.
Tripura State Election Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Chakraborty said that September 8 has been fixed as the last date for filing nominations. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place the following day, while September 11 has been scheduled as the last date for withdrawal of candidature. The counting of votes will be held on October 5.
State Director General of Police (DGP) G.S. Rao said that adequate security arrangements are being made to ensure that the elections are held freely, fairly and peacefully.
Ruling BJP's ally and tribal-based Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma said that the Village Committee elections would be held following directions of the Supreme Court.
“After I filed a petition before the Supreme Court, the apex court directed the SEC to hold the crucial elections,” Debbarma said in a video message.
Since 2021, the politically important TTAADC has been governed by the TMP, led by Debbarma, a former royal scion.
In the April 12 (2026) TTAADC elections, the TMP won 24 of the 28 elected seats, while the BJP secured only four.
The council administers nearly two-thirds of Tripura's total geographical area of 10,491 square km and is home to more than 12.16 lakh people, of whom nearly 84 per cent belong to indigenous tribal communities.
The TTAADC is considered the second most important constitutional and political body in Tripura after the 60-member Tripura Legislative Assembly.