Ruling Left Front sweeps Tripura's civic polls

Agartala, Dec.15 (ANI): The Communist Party of India-Marxist CPI (M) led Left Front government swept the civic polls in Tripura.

The Left Front clinched 13 of the 15 Nagar Panchayats, pushing out opposition Congress in five of them while also retaining hold over Agartala Municipal Council by winning 27 seats of the 35 wards of the municipal council elections.

"It's an inspiring phenomenon and on behalf of the CPI (M) and Left Front, I would like to congratulate the urban people, urban voters who voted in favour of Left Front," said Bijan Dhar, Secretary of the CPI (M) for Tripura.

For the Congress party, the results were better than the last civic polls of 2005.

The party won over Sabroom by a 5-4 margin and Ambassa by a 7-4 margin.

"We have got the definite message from the people by the voters of 'nagar panchayat' and Agartala Municipal Council that they have not separated us. They are with us and they inspired us to do better in the next coming days," said Ratan Chakraborty, a Congress spokesperson.

Tripura is the fifth state in India after Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh to provide for 50 percent reservation for women in local urban and rural agencies. By Pinaki Das (ANI)