Elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) will be held on May 3, it was announced here on Tuesday.
"The elections to the 30-seat TTAADC will be held on May 3. The statutory notification for the elections will be issued on April 4. Votes will be counted on May 6," State Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Rakesh told reporters.
A total of 758,554 electors, including 375,117 women, are eligible to vote. Of the 30 seats, 28 are filled through direct elections and two members are nominated by the government.
Of the 30 seats, 27 are reserved for tribals.
The TTTAADC was formed in January 1982 under the seventh schedule of the Constitution and later its powers were upgraded by amending the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in August 1984 to protect and safeguard the political, economic and cultural interests of the tribals, who consists one third of Tripura's 3.7 million population.
The council constitutes two thirds of the state's territory of 10,491.69 square km.
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The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) led Left Front had announced their candidates last week. The main opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have also announced they will contest the polls.
The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), a tribal regional party, had snapped its decades-old electoral ties with the Congress in July last year.
The Congress had allied with the Tripura Upajati Juba Samity in 1983. Subsequently, the TUJS, formed in 1967 after a series of political development, had formed the INPT along with the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV), a former militant outfit turned political party.
Tribals play a crucial role in Tripura politics. In the 60-member legislative assembly, 20 seats are reserved for tribals.