JULY 31, 2016, would be remembered by the people of Tripura as a day of fulfilment of their long-cherished dream with the flagging-off of the ‘Tripura Sundari Express’ from Agartala to New Delhi. The first ever passenger train from Agartala railway station after gauge conversion was flagged off jointly by Union Railways Minister Suresh, Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Union Minister of State for Rails Rajen Borgonhai, Tripura Transport Minister Manik Dey and Bangladesh Railway Minister Mujibul Hoque.

DEFEATING the opportunistic and unholy alliance of all anti-Left political parties, the Left Front in Tripura maintained its dominance winning 520 of the 587 village committees of TTAADC. In terms of seats, Left Front won in 3,838 out of 4,597. Of these, CPI(M) won in 3,806 seats,  while CPI,  RSP and FB won in 12, 12 and 8 seats, respectively. The Left Front won in 88.59 per cent of village committees and in 83.5 per cent of seats. The polling was held on February 24. It witnessed a fairly good turnout of 85.5 per cent despite heavy rains and storm in some parts of the state.

A TRUE tribute to Comrade Dasharath Deb will be establishing and maintaining live links with the masses, strengthening mass struggles for a better India and better society. To achieve this, we must strengthen our own Party, CPI(M). On the basis of that we have to galvanise the Left unity and ultimately a Left and democratic unity with an alternative policy trajectory, said Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary. He was addressing a meeting to mark the culmination of the birth centenary celebration of Comrade Dasharath Deb at Rabindra Shatavarshiki Bhaban, Agartala on February 2.

POLLING to the Agartala municipal corporation and 18 other urban local bodies elections including 13 municipal councils and five nagar panchayats and bye elections to 10 seats of the three-tier panchayats passed off peacefully on December 9. From the early hours of the day itself, people started queuing up in front of the polling stations. Everywhere there was festive mood as women, as usual, came to vote in large numbers. The final figures are yet to be confirmed, but according to primary estimates, more than 85 percent casting was recorded.