Polling for 60-member assembly begins; fate of 259 candidates to be sealed

Voting for the 60member Assembly in Tripura began at 7 am on Thursday amid tight security said Chief Electoral Officer CEO Gitte Kirankumar DinakarraoAltogether 2813 voters are scheduled to exercise their franchise during the day in 3337 polling stations of the northeastern state to determine the fate of 259 candidates he saidNo untoward incident or EVM technical snag was reported from any part of the state during the first 30 minutes he saidOf the 3337 polling stations 1100 booths have been identified as sensitive and 28 as critical As many as 97 booths are being managed by women polling personnelThe international and interstate boundaries have been sealed to keep troublemakers at bay during the voting process Dinakarrao saidAs part of precautionary measures prohibitory orders have been imposed across the state till 6 am on February 17 the CEO statedAlso Read Tripura elections A look at the election manifesto of the major parties in the raceAs many as 31000 polling personnel and 25000 security personnel of central forces will be on guard to ensure the election is conducted in a free fair and peaceful manner Besides 31000 officials of the state armed police and the state police will be deployed at various places to maintain law and order he explainedUrging electors to come out and exercise their democratic rights the CEO said necessary steps have been made for their safetySpecial initiatives have been taken for physically handicapped and elderly voters so that they dont face any inconvenience at the booths he saidThe northeastern state is set to witness a triangular fight this time with the BJPIPFT coalition seeking to retain supremacy the LeftCongress combine looking to wrest power and regional outfit Tipra Motha making its debut at the hustings after its stunning performance in the autonomous council pollsThe BJP is contesting 55 assembly seats and its ally IPFT has fielded candidates in six constituencies The two parties will be having a friendly fight in one seatThe Left Front is contesting 47 seats and the Congress 13 constituenciesThe TMC has fielded nominees in 28 constituenciesApart from that there are 58 Independent aspirants in the frayVotes will be counted on March 2This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever