AGARTALA, May 6 (TIWN): Yet again despite tainted “Clean image” of Manik Sarkar the Left front on Wednesday cheers registering a massive victory in the Tripura Tribal Areas and Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) election held on May 3 unleashing the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) in second position. Till the stuff filed here in TIWN, the Left front has once again brought 28 seats in ADC under their rule, while the opposition parties including Congress, BJP, INPT are ducked relegating the IPFT to distant second position with a very tough battle with the CPI-M in some of the constituencies. This year the result of the voting to the TTAADC has brought a major change in the battle with CPI-M v/s IPFT. However but it is worthy to be mentioned here that after the passage of at least 48 hours that the voting to TTAADC was held, the Opposition Congress had piled a heat on Left front for misusing its administration to sweep the ADC poll this year yet again. MLA Ratan Lal Nath said, “Administration acted naked on behest of the Left party.” Citing an example to his allegation Nath said, “During the poll on May 3 a section of CPI-M backed Presiding Officers has forced the voters to vote for the ruling party.” Adding to that he claimed, “On at least 22 constituencies amongst the 28 the CPI-M managed to rig the booths taking the help of the state administration.” However, the counting of votes for the 28-member Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) started form 8:00 AM on Wednesday amidst tight security arrangements in and around the ADC areas of the state.

The counting of votes was held in 16 sub divisional headquarters across the state and at 28 vote counting centers.

The election was held on Sunday in the politically important TTAADC with around 84 percent of the 758,554 electors, mostly tribals, cast their votes. Of the 175 candidates contested the elections for the TTAADC, 10 were women. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were used for the first time in the TTAADC polls.

Altogether 129 tribal voters in remote Manithangpara village under Killa-Bagma ADC constituency in Gomati district boycotted the polls in protest against alleged lack of development. Similarly, 162 voters in Maharanipur-Teliamura ADC constituency boycotted the polls because of "deprivation and backwardness" in Hrangkhawalpara polling booth.

With more tribal autonomy being a key election issue, polls for the TTAADC, a constitutional body viewed as almost equal to the state assembly, are a significant political event in Left-ruled Tripura.

The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) came into being in the state under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in 1987 to protect and safeguard the tribals who form one-third of the state's population.