Bracing For Panchayat Polls Despite Extremist Threats

AS a part and parcel of the Left Front government’s ongoing development drive as also for consolidation of grassroots democracy in Tripura, the State Election Commissioner announced the schedule for the three tier panchayat polls on June 17. The announcement came in the backdrop of an overwhelming support for the Left Front statewide, on the one hand, and the usual but abortive bid of the political vested interests on the eve of each and every such poll, on the other. It is known that these vested interests make such bids to mislead the people, intimidate them through extremist atrocities and also try to stall the polls process by taking recourse to legal provisions on flimsy grounds. Yet, it is now certain that without causing putting brake to the momentum of democracy and development in rural Tripura, the three tier panchayat polls will be conducted on July 18, about the same date when the elections to the current panchayats were held five years ago.

The announcement of the panchayat poll schedule for 2004 came just two days after the publication of the final voters’ list statewide; this list contains the names of a total of 9,24,161 voters. At stake are 82 seats of four district councils, 299 seats of 23 panchayat samities and 5352 seats of 513 village panchayats. One third of the seats in all tiers are reserved for women candidates.

An all-party meeting was held before the poll schedule was announced; it was chaired by the state election commissioner and attended by representatives of all the political parties in the state. The electoral code of conduct came into effect on June 18 all over rural Tripura as a consequence of the announcement of the poll schedule. The filing of nomination started on June 19, soon after the formal notification of the schedule. The counting of ballots has been slated for July 21 and the entire poll process shall be completed by the end of the next month. 

Immediately following the announcement of the panchayat poll schedule, spirited and spontaneous mass meetings and marches in support of the Left Front rocked the entire state, including the capital Agartala. But the atmosphere was marred by the death of a special police officer (SPO) and bullet injury to two Assam Rifles jawans in a pre-dawn gun battle with extremists. Incidentally, militants of the two outlawed extremist organisations in Tripura have significantly stepped up their atrocities over the last few days. On the other hand, a petition to postpone the panchayat polls was turned down by the Agartala bench of the Guwahati High Court on June 16. (INN)