Supreme Court issues notice over delay in Tripura ADC village committee polls, Pradyot Kishore welcomes decision

“I thank the Hon SC for issuing notice. Our people have suffered and people who have done this should be held accountable. Fear of losing the election cannot mean you can curtail the democratic rights of the indigenous people of Tripura. I am not going to remain silent,” he posted on X.

The TTAADC covers 70 per cent of the state’s geographical area and is found in nearly all districts of the state. It is home to over 30 per cent of the state’s tribal population, which comes from 19 different tribal communities. Local administration is managed through 587 village committees.

Elections for these committees were scheduled to take place in March 2021 but were postponed due to the pandemic. As a result, an administrator was appointed to oversee the region under the Governor’s supervision.

In 2022, several activists filed a case against the SEC, which oversees all local body elections in Tripura, taking the matter to the high court. The court instructed the election commission to conduct the polls as soon as possible. Despite this, the elections have not yet taken place. The high court had directed the state poll panel to complete the election process by the first week of November 2022.

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.

The revision of the electoral roll is essential for the ADC village committee elections. In the last ADC village committee elections in 2016, there were 7,68,561 registered voters. However, during the TTAADC elections held in 2021, the electoral rolls indicated that there were 8,65,041 registered voters, as reported by the state poll panel to the court at that time.

With new voters and 21,000 fresh voters from Mizoram’s Bru migrants, who are being permanently resettled in Tripura, enrolled in the voters list in ADC areas, the SEC said the village committee polls could be conducted after revision of the electoral rolls to cover all eligible voters.

Appearing on a social media live soon after his post on X, Pradyot Kishore said the ADC village committee elections were not held by citing issues such as Covid and integration of Bru voters in the electoral rolls, but other elections were being held in the state.

In an oblique reference to the ruling alliance partner BJP, he also said that if taking the issue to the Supreme Court meant sustaining political loss, he was ready for it.