AGARTALA, May 18 - Putting to rest all speculations, former Chief Secretary GK Rao on Monday assumed charge as the Chief Administrator of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) as scheduled elections could not take place within the stipulated time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since election could not be held by May 17 � the last day of the CPI(M)-controlled Council � due to the unprecedented situation, Governor Ramesh Bais took over charge of the Council under Constitutional provisions on Sunday night.
The Governor in consultation with the Tripura government on Monday appointed Rao as the Chief Administrator for the Council. This stop-gap arrangement will remain in force for the next six months and it needs to get passed by the Assembly.
The Council of Ministers had already suggested to Governor Ramesh Bais to appoint an Administrator for the TTAADC to avoid a constitutional crisis in the Council as the tenure of the Radha Charan Debbarma-led Council was ending on May 17.
Elections to the TTAADC had to be suspended even after publication of the final electoral rolls. This is for the first time that a scheduled election to the TTAADC could not take place because of an unprecedented situation, and the term of an elected Council ended at Khumulwng, the headquarters of the TTAADC, without facing the battle of ballots.
This development ends the dominance of Marxists in the TTAADC after three consecutive wins. It may be noted that the CPI(M) has dominating the tribal council since its inception in 1982, barring one term � from 2000 to 2005.
