BJP thrashes opposition in panchayat by-election in Tripura

The ruling BJP swept the panchayat by-election in Tripura by winning 113 out of 130-gram panchayat seats, State Election Commissioner G K Rao said Wednesday. The BJP also won five out of the seven panchayat samiti seats, he said.

The Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally of BJP won nine-gram panchayat seats, the SEC said. The opposition Congress and CPI-M won four-gram panchayat seats respectively, Rao said.

The by-election for the 132-gram panchayat seats and seven panchayat samity seats was held on September 30. The state election commission declared for re-polling in two-gram panchayat seats in Khowai block of Khowai district on October 5 and results would be announced on October 7, Rao told PTI.

On September 1, the State Election Commissioner had announced by-elections in 3,207-gram panchayats seats, 161 panchayat samiti seats and 18 seats of Zilla Parishad.

The by-election was necessitated as a large number of panchayat samiti members resigned after the BJP-IPFT government assumed office on March 3. BJP won in over 96 per cent of the seats where a by-election was announced without contest as opposition parties did not file any nomination papers in those seats, officials said.