Agartala, July 20 - The ruling Left Front in Tripura faced a political test Monday as the state's three-tier local bodies went to the polls.

An electorate of over a million will decide the fate of 11,831 candidates, including 4,383 women, in the elections to the Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads. The polls are being held under tight security.

Candidates belonging to the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front, Congress, Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are fighting these rural polls in the 5,295 seats of 511 Gram Panchayats, 299 seats in 23 Panchayat Samitis and 82 seats in four Zila Parishads.

The Left Front in Tripura is unopposed in 109 seats.

In the previous Panchayat elections in 2004, the Left Front had won 4,797 Gram Panchayat seats, 285 Panchayat Samiti seats and 81 Zila Parishad seats while the main opposition Congress secured 489 Gram Panchayat seat, 19 Panchayat Samiti and one Zila Parishad seat.

The government has reserved 1,900 of the 5,676 seats in the three-tier panchayat system for women.

The one-and-a-half-month-long election campaign ended Saturday.