BJP sweeps Tripura civic by-elections, bags 11/11 municipal councils

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has continued its winning streak in Tripura as it bagged 11 out of the 11 municipal councils and four out of four seats in Agartala Municipal corporation.

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BJP sweeps Tripura civic by-elections, bags 11/11 municipal councils

Biplab Kumar Deb was chosen as the BJP's first chief minister in Tripura. (Photo: PTI/File)

Amid the demands of re-elections by the Congress and CPI-M over the alleged violence against their candidates, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has continued its winning streak in Tripura as it bagged 11 out of the 11 municipal councils and four out of four seats in Agartala Municipal corporation. The polling for the 14 municipal bodies of Tripura was held on Thursday. Only 67 of the total 158 seats had undergone polling as Opposition parties could not field candidates in many seats. The CPI-M had withdrawn its candidates in 35 seats after they were allegedly stopped from casting their votes by "BJP backed hooligans". The Congress party also made similar claims and demanded re-elections.

Reacting to the saffron party's landslide victory in the municipal bodies by-elections, BJP national secretary and Tripura in charge Sunil Deodhar congratulated Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb and party workers for the astonishing victory.

"Again! Great news coming from Tripura! Heartiest Congratulations to @BjpBiplab & Karyakartas of @BJP4Tripura on winning 11 out of 11 Municipal councils & 4 out of 4 seats in Agartala Municipal corporation. @INCIndia & @cpimspeak have lost deposits in almost all seats," Deodhar wrote on Twitter.

The BJP had stormed to power in Tripura this year only. The party had won 36 seats in the 60-member strong Assembly and uprooted the 20-year old Manik Sarkar government. The party along with its ally IPFT had managed to receive more than 50 per cent of the popular votes in the state. The IPFT had won 8 seats, while the CPM was reduced to 16 seats. Biplab Kumar Deb was chosen as the party's first chief minister in the state. Later on, the party had won unopposed 96 per cent of the Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti seats and all the 18 Zila Parishad seats in the state.

BJP Tripura Biplab Deb civic bye-elections Sunil Deodhar