On the last day of filing nomination papers for 21 urban bodies across Tripura on Friday , the oppositions CPI(M) and Congress were unable to file nomination papers in five urban bodies including in Jirania, Ranirbazar, Mohanpur, Shantirbazar and Kamalpur.

Earlier, on the day the Tripura High Court has directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to make adequate security arrangements to ensure that intending candidates sponsored by the CPI(M) can submit their nomination papers without any hindrance in five sub-divisions of the state for the upcoming municipal and urban local body elections.

The direction was issued by a Division Bench of the High Court in connection with Writ Petition (Civil) No. 812 of 2026, filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tripura State Committee, represented by its Secretary, Jitendra Chowdhury, along with other intending candidates.

While, reacting over the issue,  the leader of opposition (LoP) and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said that “its very unfortunate that despite our candidates in all five urban bodies including Jirania, Ranirbazar, Mohanpur, Shantirbazar and Kamalpur were ready after verdict of the High Court, we are not getting  any support from state police.

“ It’s a matter of serious concern, despite order of the High Court of Tripura, party does not get any cooperation from these subdivisional police authorities and we had also knock the doors of police headquarters in Agartala to provide necessary security to our candidates of these subdivisions to file their nomination papers in respective offices of Returning Officers (ROs),” said Chaudhury.

It may be recalled here that  in the writ petition, CPI(M) state secretary and its candidates as petitioners alleged that a fearful atmosphere had been created by certain miscreants, allegedly backed by the ruling party, particularly in Jirania, Ranirbazar, Mohanpur, Shantirbazar and Kamalpur. They further alleged that intending candidates sponsored by the CPI(M) were being obstructed from submitting their nomination papers.

During the hearing, the petitioners’ counsel pointed out that November 6 was the last date for filing nominations, with the deadline fixed at 3 pm. They urged the court to direct the police authorities to ensure adequate security so that candidates could submit their nomination papers peacefully.

On the other hand, the Advocate General, appearing for the state respondents, submitted that no FIR had been registered in connection with the alleged incidents after the election notification was issued. He also denied the allegations of physical assault or threats against the petitioners’ candidates.

After considering the urgency of the matter, the High Court observed that contesting an election is a democratic right of every candidate.

Without making any observation on the merits of the allegations, the court directed the DGP to make necessary arrangements for adequate security and ensure that the CPI(M)-sponsored intending candidates could submit their nomination papers without any obstruction in the five concerned sub-divisions — Jirania, Ranirbazar, Mohanpur, Shantirbazar and Kamalpur.

The court also requested the Additional Government Advocate to immediately communicate the order verbally to the DGP for necessary compliance. A copy of the order was directed to be sent to the DGP without delay. With these directions, the High Court disposed of the writ petition.