The counting of votes will take place on March 2. (Representative)
Agartala:
The three-cornered high voltage election campaign that saw the Left-Congress alliance on the one hand and the ruling BJP face off with Tipra Motha on the other came to an end today.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gitte Kirankumar Dinkaro said all preparations have been completed to conduct free, fair and peaceful elections to the 60-member Tripura Assembly on Thursday.
Dinakaro said polling would be held from 7 am to 4 pm amid tight security at 3,337 polling stations, of which 1,100 have been identified as critical and 28 as critical.
The main contestants for the election are the BJP-IPFT alliance, the CPI(M)-Congress alliance and Tipra Motha, a regional party formed by a scion of the former royal family of the northeastern state.
The counting of votes will take place on March 2.
31,000 polling personnel and 25,000 security personnel of central forces are ready to conduct the elections in a free, fair and peaceful manner. In addition, 31,000 personnel of the State Armed Police and State Police will be deployed to maintain law and order. said the CEO.
A senior police officer said that as a precautionary measure, prohibitory orders have already been imposed across the state and will remain in force till 6 am on February 17.
International and inter-state borders have also been sealed to prevent miscreants from entering the state.
Altogether 28.13 lakh voters, including 13.53 lakh women, will decide the fate of 259 candidates, of whom 20 are women.
Chief Minister Manik Saha is the BJP candidate from Town Bardovali constituency, while Union minister Pratima Bhowmick is contesting from Dhanpur on a saffron party ticket. CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chowdhary, who is the face of the Left-Congress alliance, is contesting from the Sabroom assembly seat.
Pradyot Debbarma, scion of the erstwhile royal family of the northeastern state and founder of Tipra Motha, is not in the fray.
BJP is contesting on 55 seats, its ally IPFT has fielded candidates on six seats, while one seat will see a friendly contest.
The CPI(M) is contesting on 47 seats while its alliance partner Congress is contesting on 13 seats. Tipra Motha has candidates for 42 seats.
Trinamool Congress has fielded candidates on 28 seats while there are 58 independent candidates.
The ruling BJP has fielded the maximum number of 12 women candidates.
During the election campaign, the BJP highlighted the developments in the northeastern state in the last five years, with the Left Front and the Congress stressing on the “misrule and misrule” of the BJP-IPFT government.
Tipra Motha’s election issue is the demand for a Greater Tipperland state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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