Tripura is set to hold its Assembly elections on Thursday with poll authorities exhorting voters to come out in large numbers as the officials take the “responsibility” for the security of the electorate.
The state's poll authorities said there was “more than the required security in place”.
Polling for the 60 Assembly seats will be held from 7am to 4pm in 3,337 polling stations spread across the state’s eight districts.
The votes will be counted on March 2. Voters’ concern over security has a lot to do with the state’s history of poll violence, and also the expected keen contest among the three key contenders — the ruling BJP-IPFT alliance, the Opposition Left Front-Congress combine and the Tipra Motha.
“There is some tension among voters given our state’s history of poll violence even though law and order incidents are much less this time round and there seems to be adequate security,” Mrinal Banik, a voter from the state capital Agartala, told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
He added: “People are looking forward to the vote but they are also thinking whether they will be allowed to vote, hence concerns over security.”
Another voter, wishing anonymity, said: “Since the stakes are high for both the ruling and the Opposition parties, tension is also high though everything may appear normal from outside. But we are looking forward to voting on Thursday.”
The ruling alliance is up against the Left Front-Congress combine, the Tipra Motha, a regional party which has emerged as a factor in this election, and the Trinamul Congress that is banking on its Bengal model of development and beneficiary schemes to make an impact.
Tripura chief electoral officer Gitte Kirankumar Dinkarrao urged the 28.13 lakh voters to have faith in the Election Commission to ensure free, fair and peaceful polls. He said poll violence was down to 30 per cent and he was hopeful of “no” violence “tonight, during polling tomorrow or after polling.”
Gitte said: “For the past one-and-a-half months, paramilitary forces, state police and TSR personnel are working in the state and we have created an atmosphere of peace which cannot be established in one day. Compared to violence in earlier polls, (law and order) incidents have come down to 30 per cent this time. Our goal is zero violence.” The CEO added: “We have more than the required security in place.”
A police officer had said earlier that around 400 companies of central armed police forces had been deployed this time, 100 more than in 2018.
Altogether 259 candidates are in the fray, including chief minister Manik Saha of the BJP, CPM state secretary Jiten Chaudhury, PCC president Birajit Sinha and Union minister of state Pratima Bhoumik.
The BJP, which defeated the Left Front in 2018 in alliance with the IPFT, launched a sustained campaign which saw senior leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and party president J.P. Nadda making two trips in a week before the campaign drew to a close on Tuesday afternoon.
This has a lot to do with the Left Front and Congress coming together and the growing influence of the Tipra Motha in the tribal belt. Tripura has 20 seats reserved for tribal candidates.
