TIPRA Motha party chief Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma said Tuesday that the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the petition on holding village committee elections under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC) on October 27 or 28. Earlier, he had said that those responsible for delaying the polls for five years have to be held accountable. Taking to Facebook, Debbarma wrote, “Hon CJI has listened to our mention today at the supreme court and the hearing for VC elections will take place on the 27 or 28 of this month. The delay in holding the VC election must be one of the longest delays in history of democratic india.” His statement came after the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Tripura State Election Commission to immediately conduct the overdue village committee elections under the Tripura Tribal Areas Automatic District Council Act, 1994. A division bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice N V Anjaria, also asked the concerned stakeholders to explain the reason for the delay in conducting the polls. This is the first time a ruling alliance partner of Tripura has moved the apex court against the state poll panel alleging that it has avoided holding the ADC local body polls for five years. Earlier, in August, Debbarma thanked the Supreme Court for issuing notice on the matter and said, “Our people have suffered and people who have done this should be held accountable. Fear of losing election cannot mean you can curtail the democratic rights of the indigenous people of tripura. I am not going to remain silent.” The TTAADC spans across 70 percent of Tripura’s geographical area and is distributed across almost all districts. It houses over 30 per cent of the state’s tribal population, hailing from 19 tribal communities, and is locally administered through 587 village committees. The elections to these committees, initially scheduled to be held by March 2021, were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an administrator was appointed under the governor’s supervision. While several activists moved the high court against the State Election Commission in 2022, the court instructed the panel to complete the poll process by the first week of November that year. In August 2022, the SEC issued a notification announcing guidelines for the ADC village committee elections and said the Commission is in the process of making all preparations for the conduct of the general election to the village committees. Revision of the electoral roll is crucial ahead of the ADC village committee elections since 7.68 lakh voters were registered during the last polls held in 2016, and the state poll panel had informed the court that 8.65 lakh voters had registered in 2021. With new voters gaining eligibility and around 21,000 fresh voters to be added to the list from among Mizoram's Bru migrants, who are being permanently resettled in Tripura, the SEC said that the village committee polls could be conducted only after revision of the electoral rolls.
