Tag: Polls

Mayawati, Badals meet in Delhi, discuss Lok Sabha polls

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New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Thursday met Shiromani Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal and MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal here, and discussed the upcoming Lok Sabha polls with them.
A statement from the BSP said the leaders met at Mayawati’s residence in New Delhi, and discussed strengthening ties and strategies for the 2024 general elections. Both sides agreed that the two parties shall maintain their unity for the polls.
According to the statement, Mayawati said she has “full confidence” that the SAD will be able to transfer its votes to the BSP.
The SAD and the BSP had forged an alliance in the recent Punjab Assembly polls. While SAD contested on 97 seats, BSP candidates fought on 20 seats. The SAD won three seats while BSP bagged just one seat in the polls that were swept by the Aam Aadmi Party.
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#Mayawati #Badals #meet #Delhi #discuss #Lok #Sabha #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
SC rejects plea seeking to bar candidates from contesting polls from more than one seat

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking to bar persons from contesting elections from more than one seat, saying it is ultimately the Parliament’s will as to whether the political democracy in the country is furthered by granting a choice.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud observed that candidates may contest polls from more than one constituency due to a variety of reasons.
The bench, also comprising justices PS Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, was dealing with a petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who had sought to declare as invalid and ultra vires to the Constitution section 33(7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which allows a person to contest a general election or a group of bypolls or biennial elections from two constituencies.
“Permitting a candidate to contest from more than one seat…is a matter of legislative policy since it is ultimately the Parliament’s will as to whether the political democracy in the country is furthered by granting such a choice,” it said.
The top court observed that in the absence of any manifest arbitrariness in section 33(7) of the 1951 Act, it would not be possible for it to strike down the provision.
During the arguments, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who appeared on behalf of Upadhyay, submitted that if a candidate contests an election from two seats and gets elected from both, he or she has to vacate one seat, which will lead to a by-poll that will be an additional financial burden on the exchequer.
He said prior to a 1996 amendment, there was no bar on the number of seats a candidate could contest in an election. The amendment restricted that number to two.
The bench observed that it is for Parliament to decide whether a candidate can contest an election from more than one seat.

“When you contest from two seats, you do not know from where you will get elected. What is wrong about it? This is part of electoral democracy,” it said.
The bench said Parliament can certainly step in, as it did in 1996, and say it is limiting it to one constituency.
“At the relevant time, if Parliament thinks necessary, it can do it. There is no question of inaction.
“There is another way of looking at it. Some political leader might say I want to establish my pan-India image by contesting an election…like from the north-east and north or south,” the bench said, adding there have been instances in the country’s political history which depict that there have been leaders of that stature.
The top court noted that one of the basis of the petition is that in July 2004, the then chief election commissioner had urged the then prime minister to amend section 33(7) of the 1951 Act in so far as it permits a person to contest an election from more than one seat.
It said the petitioner has also referred to the 255th report of the Law Commission, which had agreed with the Election Commission (EC) that the 1951 Act should be amended to provide that a person be not allowed to contest an election from more than one seat.
In his plea, Upadhyay had sought a direction to the Centre and the EC to take appropriate steps to restrict people from contesting an election for the same office from more than one constituency simultaneously.
“One person-one vote and one candidate-one constituency is the dictum of democracy. However, as per the law, as it stands today, a person can contest the election for the same office from two constituencies simultaneously.”
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#rejects #plea #seeking #bar #candidates #contesting #polls #seat
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
RJD to contest 6 seats in Nagaland Assembly polls

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Patna: RJD will contest six seats in Nagaland where Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in February.
Confirming the development, Party national general secretary Shyam Rajak said that six names have been finalized. However, the names are yet to be announced officially.
Some BJP leaders will soon meet Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in this regard. Tejashwi Yadav’s decision would be final.
“If this works out, we will contest for some more seats,” Rajak said.
The election to the 60 seats of Nagaland is scheduled to take place on February 27. The last date for submitting the nomination paper is February 7.
Earlier, RJD sent two leaders Kumar Sharvajeet, the cabinet minister in the Bihar government, and Bhola Yadav to Nagaland.
“They have submitted their observation report before Tejashwi Yadav. Now, another team will be visiting the state soon and submitting its report for further planning,” he said.
Reacting to collaboration with JD(U) in Nagaland, Rajak said that the party has an alliance in Bihar but not in Nagaland so far.

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#RJD #contest #seats #Nagaland #Assembly #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 30, 2023
Ready to face early polls if BJP-led Centre dissolves LS: BRS’ KTR

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Hyderabad: Alleging that the NDA government at the Centre shows step-motherly treatment towards Telangana, ruling BRS leader K T Rama Rao claimed his party is ready for early elections to the Parliament and the state assembly if the BJP dissolves the Lok Sabha, showing its willingness for polls ahead of schedule.
The BJP-led government has not announced any new institution or funds to Telangana and not even delivered on the promises made to the state in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, he alleged.
The NDA government waived off loans for its “corporate friends”, he alleged. “…especially those in BJP in the state, they talk big. If they have guts, let them dissolve Parliament. Then, we can go for early polls together,” he told reporters in Nizamabad on Saturday.
“They say ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vishwas’. But, their actions are ‘sab kuch bakwas’ (all rubbish). The value of rupee is moving towards the ‘pathalam’ (abyss), the debt is mounting towards the sky. Such is the situation prevailing in the country today,” he said.
The BRS and BJP have been engaged in political one-upmanship ahead of Assembly polls to be held towards this year-end.
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#Ready #face #early #polls #BJPled #Centre #dissolves #BRS #KTR

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 29, 2023
Tripura polls: BJP announces 1st list of candidates, drops 6 MLAs

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Agartala: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced its first list of 48 candidates, dropping six sitting MLAs and fielding 11 woman candidates.
A BJP leader said that they are now holding talks with their junior ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), which has also been on parlays with the influential opposition tribal-based party Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) led by former royal scion Pradyot. Bikram Manikya Deb Barman.
According to the first list, Chief Minister Manik Saha, who was elected to the state assembly in the June last year by-elections after former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb was removed from the top post in May last year, would contest from the Bordowali seat.
Union Minister Pratima Bhowmik, who in 2018 assembly polls unsuccessfully contested against former Chief Minister and CPI-M leader Manik Sarkar, would seek election from the same Dhanpur constituency. Tripura state BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee would contest for the first time from Banamalipur seat, from where former Chief Minister and incumbent Rajya Sabha member Biplab Kumar Deb was elected in 2018 assembly polls.
CPI-M sitting MLA Moboshar Ali, who on Friday joined BJP in New Delhi, would contest from his old constituency Kailasahar in northern Tripura, from where he was elected to the state assembly for the first time on Left party ticket in 2018 polls.
The BJP did not give tickets to six sitting MLAs – Arun Chandra Bhowmik (Belonia), Biplab Ghosh (Matabari), Subhash Das (Nalchar), Mimi Majumder (Badharghat) Birendra Kishore Debbarma (Golaghati) and Parimal Debbarma (Ambasa). All the nine ministers including Chief Minister Manik Saha and Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma got the party tickets from their respective constituencies.
However, the name of the candidate in Minister Ram Prasad Paul’s constituency in Suryamaninagar was not announced in the first list.
Around 15 new faces found places in the first list of BJP candidates.

State BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee said that the second list of 12 names would be announced soon.
“We are now holding talks with our partner IPFT,” he told IANS. The BJP’s Central Election Committee in its meeting at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi on Friday finalised candidates for the February 16 Tripura Assembly elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the meeting, which was chaired by party President J.P. Nadda.
Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik, CEC member Om Mathur, former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Union Ministers Bhupendra Yadav, Satyanarayan Jatiya and Sarbananda Sonowal; Iqbal Singh Lalpura and Tripura election incharge Mahesh Sharma also participated the meeting.
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#Tripura #polls #BJP #announces #1st #list #candidates #drops #MLAs
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
AAP moves SC seeking time-bound mayoral polls in Delhi

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New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party has moved the Supreme Court over the repeated adjournments of mayoral polls in Delhi.
In its suit, the AAP has demanded time-bound urgent mayoral elections and has also sought the prohibition on voting by aldermen as per law.
“People of Delhi gave majority to the Aam Aadmi Party in the MCD but BJP is not allowing us to form a government in the MCD. Aam Aadmi Party has moved the Supreme Court through its Leader of the House and Mayor candidate (Shelly Oberoi). We have placed two major demands in the Supreme Court, the first is to elect the Mayor in a time-bound manner and form the government in the MCD. Second, as aldermen do not have the right to vote under Article 243R of the Constitution and Section 3 of the DMC Act, they should be prohibited from casting votes,” said AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj.
Noting that the BJP’s MCD tenure ended in March 2022 itself, he said that “they have no moral right to capture and illegally control the MCD for so long”.
The MCD was put under the Central government on the pretext of unification and delimitation works, he said.
“Now the people of Delhi have given a majority to the Aam Aadmi Party in the MCD and elected 134 councillors of the AAP. Despite that, the BJP is not allowing the Aam Aadmi Party government to be formed in the MCD due to its conspiracy and dirty politics. Despite many efforts, they are not allowing the election of the Mayor and the formation of the government to take place,” he said.
“The court should complete this process as soon as possible. Because the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Central Government will not allow to complete this process. The Aldermen, in principle and in law, are unelected nominees and do not have the right to vote under Article 243R of the Constitution and Section 3 of the DMC Act. But the BJP wants to get them to vote by committing hooliganism. The Supreme Court should also give strict orders in this matter to the Central Government and the administration of MCD in this regard.”
The Mayoral election was first scheduled for January 6, but the House was adjourned following scuffle between the councillors of the BJP and the AAP. Then a session was convened on January 24 to elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor and members of the Standing Committee.

However, after all the 250 newly-elected MCD councillors and 10 nominated members (aldermen) took their oath, the House was again adjourned until the next date after a ruckus created by the councillors of AAP and BJP.
The results of the MCD elections were declared on December 7, wherein out of the 250 seats, the AAP got majority by winning 134 seats, followed by BJP (104), Congress (nine) and Independents (three).
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#AAP #moves #seeking #timebound #mayoral #polls #Delhi
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 26, 2023
Meghalaya Polls: Congress releases first list of 55 candidates

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New Delhi/Shillong: The Congress on Wednesday released the first list of 55 candidates for Assembly elections in Meghalaya scheduled on February 27.
AICC General Secretary in-charge of Central Election Committee, Mukul Wasnik, announced the names of the 55 candidates in Delhi.
According to the list, state Congress President and Lok Sabha MP from Shillong parliamentary constituency, Vincent H. Pala, would contest from Sutnga Saipung Assembly constituency.
Saleng A. Sangma, who had resigned as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA and joined the Congress on January 23, has been fielded from the Gambegre (ST) Assembly constituency from where he was elected in 2018 polls.
Former police officer-turned-politician Champion R. Sangma would contest from the Songsak constituency.
Several former MLAs and ministers also got party tickets for the upcoming Assembly polls.
In all, eight women candidates found place in the first list of candidates, which was released after a meeting of the CEC meeting chaired by party President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday.
Of the 55 candidates, most are new faces.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress had won 21 seats in the 60-member Assembly, but subsequently all its legislators joined other parties, including the Trinamool Congress and the ruling National People’s Party.
Twelve MLAs, led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma (2010-2018), who had won in the 2018 Assembly election as Congress nominees, joined the Trinamool Congress in November 2021, making the West Bengal-based party the main opposition in the northeastern state overnight.
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#Meghalaya #Polls #Congress #releases #list #candidates
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 26, 2023
Modi to flag off BJP’s campaign against BRS in run-up to Telangana polls

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Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to raise the pitch against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana in an election year with several Union Ministers and senior leaders making a beeline to the state.
The saffron party is planning a high-profile blitzkrieg to go on the offensive against BRS, the new name adopted recently by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to go pan-India.
Political analysts believe that the BJP is looking to continue the tempo built last year with a series of visits by party top guns and party programmes.
Though Assembly elections are scheduled towards the end of the year, the possibility of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao preponing the same is not ruled out and keeping this in view the BJP is galvanising itself into the poll mode.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to lead from the front by addressing a public meeting in Hyderabad in February. He was scheduled to visit the state on January 19 but the visit was postponed.
The Prime Minister’s visit was finalised a couple of days after the BRS held inaugural meeting at Khammam, which was attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and CPI general secretary D. Raja.
With Telangana Chief Minister KCR bracing for an active role in the national politics by portraying pan-India image and bringing non-BJP parties on a common platform to achieve the common goal of throwing out Modi government out of power in 2024, the BJP is apparently looking to mount pressure on him in his home turf.
As part of efforts to achieve its ambitious target of capturing power in Telangana, the BJP will be unleashing an aggressive blitz. In the next few days, several Union Ministers are scheduled to descend on Telangana.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also expected to visit the state later this month. He may go to Komaram Bheem Asifabad district and visit Jodeghat where Gond leader Kumaram Bheem had laid down his life while fighting forces of Nizam, the ruler of then Hyderabad State.
Political analysts say the proposed visit of Shah will help BJP build a strong narrative against KCR-led government. The saffron party has been targeting him for not celebrating September 17 as Liberation Day due to its ‘appeasement politics’ and fear of his ally the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
“The BJP may look for more such opportunities to step up its attack on KCR in the run-up to the polls,” says an analyst.
BJP leaders have been slamming KCR for friendship with Owaisi’s party, implementation of four per cent reservation for Muslims and the proposal to enhance the quota to 12 per cent and second official language status to Urdu.
As the elections draw nearer, the saffron party is likely to intensify efforts to capitalise on sensitive issues for polarisation along religious lines.
The BJP in Telangana has been aggressive ever since it bagged four Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019 and scored victories in two Assembly by-elections in 2020 and 2021 and significantly increased its tally in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Projecting itself as the only viable alternative to TRS (now BRS), the BJP leaders see a realistic chance of coming to power in the state in 2023.
The BJP has been raking up emotive issues which could help in garnering votes of the majority community, especially in constituencies in and around Hyderabad and other urban pockets of the state.
After Bandi Sanjay became the BJP state president in 2020, the party went into an overdrive to draw political mileage from sensitive issues. In what is seen as an attempt to challenge AIMIM on its home turf, he launched his state-wide Praja Sangram Yatra from Bhagyalaxmi temple abutting historic Charminar.
In fact this temple, whose legality was questioned several times in the past sparking communal tensions, has become the focal point of BJP’s politics over the last couple of years.
BJP launched its poll campaign in GHMC elections in 2020 from the same temple. It was also visited by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during GHMC polls and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in July during BJP’s national executive committee meeting here.
Bandi Sanjay, who is also a member of Lok Sabha from Karimnagar, allegedly delivered a hate speech in May. Police complaints were filed against him at various police stations in the state for making provocative remarks against mosques and madarsas.
The BJP leader demanded digging under all mosques. Alleging that Muslim rulers in Telangana demolished several temples and built mosques over them, demanded digging work at all mosques, saying there was a possibility of finding Shiva Lingams underneath.
The BJP MP also stated that if BJP comes to power in Telangana, it will abolish all madrasas, do away with reservation for Muslims, and remove Urdu as the second official language.
Family rule by KCR and alleged corruption are the other issues BJP leaders are likely to highlight during the campaign in the run-up to the polls.
BJP leaders are confident that the upcoming visits by Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other top figures will help consolidate the gains the party claimed to have made last year with series of visits by the Central leaders and conduct of the BJP national executive meeting in Hyderabad.
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#Modi #flag #BJPs #campaign #BRS #runup #Telangana #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 22, 2023
Telangana unit Cong in-charge stresses need for unity in view of polls

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Hyderabad: Aiming to end the infighting and forge unity in the Congress party in Telangana ahead of this year’s Assembly elections, the new in-charge for the party in the state Manikrao Thakare made it clear on Saturday that he neither is in anyone’s favour nor against someone.
He asked the party’s state unit leaders to work with unity and if they are any issues bring them to his notice. He advised them not to speak on the internal issues before the media as this would damage the party’s interests.
Addressing the extended executive meeting of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) in Hyderabad, the in-charge told the leaders that his duty is to act as per the orders of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
He asked the party leaders to make the ‘Hath Se Hath Jodo’ programme in the state a huge success like Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
Thakare directed the party leaders and cadres to work with unity to take the programme to every village and every street. He told the participants in the meeting that Rahul Gandhi undertook the nation-wide yatra in a bone-chilling cold and it is ‘our responsibility to take the message of the yatra’ to every house.
The AICC in-charge said TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy will undertake yatra in at least 50 Assembly constituencies in the state and asked senior leaders to cover another 20-30 constituencies.
Thakare said everyone in the party should work hard to make the yatra successful in view of the coming Assembly elections. “If all of us work together, the Congress party will definitely win the election and come to power,” he said.
Revanth Reddy said Hath Se Hath Jodo Yatra in Telangana will begin on February 6 and will continue for two months. He said a resolution was passed during the meeting, appealing to the central leadership to arrange a day’s visit to Telangana by Priyanka Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi.

He said the yatra would be formally launched from Bhadrachalam on January 26.
The meeting was attended by Revanth Reddy, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former PCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy, three AICC incharge secretaries and other leaders.
Manikrao Thakare also had meetings with the Campaign Committee, Election Management Committee and AICC Program Implementation Committee Chairman regarding expansion of these committees and their work.
The AICC on January 4 appointed Thakare as the new in-charge amid infighting in the party’s state unit.
Thakare, a senior leader from Maharashtra replaced Manickam Tagore, who was shifted to Goa following complaints by a section of senior leaders he had been supporting Revanth Reddy and taking unilateral decisions.
A section of senior leaders had last month slammed Revanth Reddy for packing the party panels with his loyalists.
They had also announced to save Congress in Telangana movement, terming it a fight between what they called real Congress and the leaders who came from other parties. This was an open attack on Revanth Reddy and others who quit Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join Congress a few years ago.
A day after senior leaders raised the banner of revolt, 13 loyalists of Revanth Reddy had announced resignations from party posts.
The crisis had forced the high command to send senior leader Digvijay Singh to Hyderabad. He individually met the leaders from both the groups and based on the feedback received submitted a report to the high command.
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#Telangana #unit #Cong #incharge #stresses #unity #view #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 21, 2023
EC issues notification for Feb 16 polls to 60-member Tripura Assembly

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Agartala: The Election Commission (EC) has issued a statutory notification for the February 16 elections to the 60-member Tripura Assembly inviting the candidates to submit their nomination papers from Saturday, officials said.
Election officials said that with the issuance of the notification, candidates can submit their nomination papers to the returning officers across the state.
According to the notification, the last date for filing of nomination papers in Tripura is January 30 and the scrutiny of papers and relevant documents would be done the next day.
The last date for withdrawal of the candidatures is February 2.
Officials said that for the convenience of the candidates and the political parties, unlike the previous elections, the poll panel has appointed 60 returning officers and 180 Assistant Returning Officers (AROs).
In the previous Assembly polls in Tripura, one returning officer was appointed for two or three constituencies.
Even though the official process of filing of nominations has begun, no political party is yet to announce the names of candidates even though the selection process has been going on both in Agartala and New Delhi.
However, some candidates from different political parties, including Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha who would be the ruling BJP’s Chief Ministerial face, have already started door-to-door campaigns in his Bordowali Assembly constituency in Agartala.

Election officials said that it is proposed to work in mission mode to conduct the elections with an aim of “Zero Poll Violence”.
To hold the election violence-free, a series of administrative and awareness steps were taken.
The steps, which would continue until the poll process is over, include sensitization workshops to be held in all the 60 constituencies involving political parties, workers, and eminent citizens highlighting the negative effects of violence on the persons, families, society, and overall image of the state.
Following the request of the state authorities, the Union Home Ministry has agreed to provide 400 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), comprising Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, and Central Industrial Security Force.
The majority of the CAPF has already been deployed in different parts of Tripura.
“The flag marches by the CAPF have already started since last week to ensure confidence building among the political workers for campaigning and among the citizens to cast their votes freely without any fear. The security forces are deployed well before the poll process so that they get familiar with the locality. Local police should extend necessary cooperation to the CAPF,” said an EC statement.
It said that the state police shall ensure all miscreants, trouble mongers, and history sheeters are either kept in a constant watch or bound under relevant sections of the CrPC.
The counting of votes will be held in Tripura on March 2.
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#issues #notification #Feb #polls #60member #Tripura #Assembly
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 21, 2023