The High Court of Tripura has directed the State Election Commission to complete elections in the 587 Village Committees (VCs) under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC ) by end of November this year. The order was passed on Tuesday, ending hearings on a PIL that sought elections in the VCs, which are similar to the Gram Panchayat system.
The incumbent TTAADC authority of the TIPRA, a regional party headed by state’s royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya, earlier constituted Village Development Committees with nominated chairman and members in the absence of elected bodies in all the 587 VCs. The tenure of the VCs ended on March 7, 2021.
The TIPRA has been blaming the BJP-led coalition government in the State for deliberately skipping elections in VCs fearing a defeat. In the election last year, it was the TIPRA that It registered a massive win.
TIPRA spokesperson Antony Debbarma expressed hope in the State government accepting the high court order and holding the elections at the earliest. The State government, however, is yet to decide if it would seek a review of the order in the high court or lodge an appeal petition in the Supreme Court.
