Agartala, Dec. 12: The ruling Left Front in Tripura swept the civic polls by capturing all the 13 municipal councils, six nagar panchayats and the newly constituted Agartala Municipal Corporation. Counting of ballots was completed today,

The Congress was relegated to a distant second. The BJP, which was looking to establish a toehold in the state's electoral arena, finished third but acted as a spoiler for the Congress in many wards.

In the significant fight for the first-ever election to the Agartala Municipal Corporation, the CPM-dominated Left Front was the runaway winner. It won 45 of the 49 wards, leaving four to be picked up by the Congress. Four sitting councillors of the Congress, including two minority candidates, lost the polls. In at least 15 seats, the Congress's loss was caused by inroads made by the BJP in its traditional vote share.

The front led right from the beginning in the 13 municipal councils and six nagar panchayats and ended up bagging 291 of the 310 wards. The Congress picked up 13, the BJP four and Independents two.

The CPM swept all the 15 wards in Khowai, Belonia and Teliamura municipal councils and all the 13 in Mohanpur, Ranirbazar, Santirbazar and Melaghar municipal councils.

In Bishalgarh municipal council, it won 11 wards, conceding only four to the Congress. In Ambassa, which had been won by the Congress in 2010, it won 12, conceding only one to the Congress. In Udaipur (21 wards), the Congress could win only three while the CPM swept the majority. While the CPM also won Dharmanagar (23 wards) and Kumarghat (13 wards) municipal councils, the BJP secured the second position with two wards in each, ahead of the Congress. While the BJP didn't win any seat in Belonia, it obtained second position in all the wards, relegating the Congress to third position.

In Kailasahar municipal council of Unakoti district, Independents, under the banner of Peoples Front, sprang a surprise by winning two seats, leaving the remaining 13 seats to the CPM. The Congress drew a blank despite PCC president Birajit Sinha being the sitting legislator.

The CPM won all the 11 wards in Amarpur and Panisagar nagar panchayats. Though the BJP did not secure any seat in Panisagar, it bagged the second position. The CPM won all the nine wards in Sabroom nagar panchayat. In Sonamura, it won 10 wards, leaving only one to be picked up by the Congress. It also won Kamalpur nagar panchayat. It had won uncontested in six wards of Amarpur and all the 11 wards of Jirania nagar panchayats.

The CPM state committee thanked the people for the resounding mandate. "This result will inspire us to do better. The people of Tripura have proved their political maturity and consciousness which will be a source of inspiration for us," CPM state secretary Bijan Dhar said.

PCC president Birajit Sinha blamed the "growth of the BJP and the CPM's money and muscle power" for the party's poor showing in the civic polls. "It is difficult to fight the party in power in local elections because they have all the advantages. But still we expected to do better. We will try to improve our position by revamping our organisation and taking other corrective measures," he said.