Security tightened for Tripura bypolls today

AGARTALA: To thwart any possibility of violence or rigging in the byelection to the four assembly constituencies on Thursday, central paramilitary forces (CPF) have begun area domination and massive raids in hotels, hostels and several localities of Agartala to flush out outsiders since Wednesday night.
The opposition parties have been alleging that a large number of BJP cadres were brought from other parts of the state in Agartala to rig the elections to ensure the victory of chief minister Manik Saha in Bardowali and defeat former BJP minister Sudip Roy Barman in Agartala constituency.
As many as 25 temporary check-points have been set up across two assembly constituencies of the city and police along with CPF have been patrolling in the bylanes, police officials said, adding that around 1,000 CPF and 1,200 warfare-trained Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans were deployed in the city to ensure free and fair elections.
“About 700 CPF jawans are engaged in polling duty in 111 booths of Agartala and Bardowali constituencies along with police and remaining 300 CPF jawans and TSR have been engaged in area sensitisation and tracking the movement of people in the constituencies. Moreover, 420 closed-circuit cameras installed under Smart City Mission will be put to use,” said chief electoral officer Gitte Kiran Kumar on Thursday.
He said the Election Commission has made all arrangements to ensure a free and fair election where a separate control room and voters’ facilitation centre, including a dedicated WhatsApp number has been given for direct access to the administration. Another 1,500 CPF with adequate number of TSR jawans were deployed for the byelection in Surma of Dhalai and Jubarajnagar of North Tripura. About 1.89 lakh eligible voters will decide the fate of 22 candidates, including five independents, in four constituencies across 221 polling stations between 7 am and 5 pm. The entire voting process will be webcast on real time while activities of 100-metre areas outside the polling booths will be videographed. Each of the polling stations would have a micro observer, Gitte said.