AGARTALA, June 2 - By-elections to casual vacancies in Gram Panchayats functioning under Tripura Government and Village Committees working under Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) will be held next month, official sources said.
The by-election has been necessitated since around 2,100 elected Pradhans, Upapradhans, Chairmen, Vice Chairmen and members have resigned after the landslide victory of BJP-IPFT combine in the February Assembly elections.
The tenure of the existing three-tier Panchayat is scheduled to expire in July next year. A good number of posts in Gram Panchayats and Village Committees fell vacant soon after the formation of the BJP-IPFT Government and it has now become necessary to conduct by-election there, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma told the media on Saturday.
The State Government has already initiated the process to hold the by-election in casual vacancies as mandated in the three-tier Panchayati Raj system, he added. The State has 6,111 Gram Panchayats and 5,897 Village Committees.
Of late, the State Cabinet has issued an Ordinance empowering BDOs and Panchayat Secretaries to pass or release bills in order to carry out development activities as many of the elected Panchayat Pradhans and Chairmen of Village Committees have resigned.
Dev Varma claimed there was no shortage of food or job in the rural areas as alleged by a section of political party leaders. �Centre has already released Rs 173.67 crore and Rs 22.67 crore has already been spent under the national flagship programme MGNREGA. BDOs were asked to provide jobs under MGNREGA as and when necessary�, he added.
Meanwhile, reacting sharply to Dy Chief Minister�s statement of holding by-election in some Village Committees, MP Jitendra Chowdhury said the State Government can�t recommend holding by-election in the tribal-run Village Committees. �Only TTAADC authority can recommend to the State Government to conduct by-elections in casual vacancies of Village Committees. The State Government can�t do this�, Chowdhury, who is a CPI(M) central committee member told the media at a press conference here on Saturday.
