Tripura village committee polls: Manik Saha hails ‘encouraging’ trends, urges restraint after results

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on October 5 described the initial trends from the village committee election counting as “encouraging” for his party, but said the final picture would emerge only later in the afternoon.

Speaking to reporters, Saha said the results being reported so far were largely in line with expectations and had boosted the morale of party workers across the state.

“The news coming in is all about India’s victory. Very good results are coming and we are getting the results as expected,” he said.

Saha said the counting was taking time as the election was conducted through ballot papers. He said a clearer picture would emerge as the counting progressed through the afternoon.

“The whole picture will be understood by the end of the afternoon,” the Chief Minister said.

Saha also acknowledged reports of isolated incidents at one or two locations during the counting process, but maintained that the overall situation remained under control. He said police had been deployed wherever required and were responding according to the situation.

“There are isolated incidents coming in one or two places, but they are working according to what is needed. Our police department is also there, there is deployment,” he said.

The Chief Minister appealed to political parties and their supporters to maintain peace after the results are declared and avoid any form of retaliation or post-election violence.

“The end should be good and beautiful. Even after winning the election, let us stay away from post-election terror,” Saha said.

He also accused Communist parties of having a history of post-election violence and claimed that the latest electoral developments pointed to a difficult political future for the Communists.

Saha said he expected the counting process to conclude peacefully, while reiterating that the overall situation in the state remained calm.