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The scrutiny of nomination papers for the upcoming elections to the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) and 20 other municipal bodies and Nagar Panchayats in Tripura was conducted on Saturday.
Out of 1,109 nomination papers filed by 879 candidates across 21 urban local bodies, 49 nominations belonging to 20 candidates were rejected, while the nomination papers of 859 candidates were found valid. State Election Commission Secretary Anurag Sen informed that among the candidates whose nominations were accepted, 342 belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 251 to the CPI(M), 216 to the Indian National Congress, 15 to the Tipra Motha Party and 35 to other parties and independent categories. The final list of candidates will be determined after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations expires on November 10. Among the urban local bodies, the Agartala Municipal Corporation, which has 51 wards, recorded the highest number of valid nominations, with 164 candidates. This was followed by Dharmanagar Municipal Council with 75 candidates, Udaipur Municipal Council with 64, Kailashahar Municipal Council with 54, Ambassa Municipal Council with 47 and Belonia Municipal Council with 45 valid nominations. Meanwhile, State Election Commissioner Pradip Chakraborty said that all necessary security arrangements for filing nomination papers in the municipal and urban local body elections had been made even before the Tripura High Court issued its directions. Speaking to ANI in Agartala, Chakraborty said, "The High Court had directed the authorities to ensure security for candidates during the nomination filing process. Accordingly, instructions had been issued to officials of the Urban Development Department, concerned District Municipal Officers and Returning Officers to ensure adequate security arrangements." He further stated that all necessary measures had been taken to ensure the smooth and peaceful conduct of the election process. Regarding the demand for extending the nomination filing deadline, the State Election Commissioner clarified that the High Court had not issued any direction for extending the deadline. He also maintained that the State Election Commission had not imposed any restrictions or created obstacles for candidates in submitting their nomination papers. (ANI)
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