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Voting for the Village Committee (VC) elections began at 7 am on Monday in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) area, at New Mandai Girls High School in West Tripura district.
The Tripura State Election Commission had said on Sunday that all administrative, procedural and security arrangements had been completed for the polls. According to the Commission, polling is being held for 2,950 seats across 587 Village Committees. Of the total 4,597 seats, 1,644 have been declared uncontested, while three seats remain vacant due to a lack of nominations. As many as 8,176 candidates are in the fray, and around 6.65 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes at 1,095 polling stations where contests are being held. Ballot papers in white, light pink, light green and light blue are being used for different seats to help voters identify them during polling. The Commission has deployed 74 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) across the state, besides around 8,977 personnel of the Tripura Police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR). More than 1,500 senior security officials have also been assigned supervisory duties. Around 7,458 polling personnel, organised into 1,243 teams, have been deployed for the exercise. The Commission appealed to voters to take part in the electoral process and exercise their franchise peacefully. Speaking about the arrangements, West Tripura Superintendent of Police Namit Pathak said polling was progressing smoothly and security cover was in place. "The polling process is underway at the booths here, and security forces are deployed. Voter turnout is also good. For security cover, the CAPF, police and TSR are all deployed, and senior officers are also on the ground," he said. Sachin Debbarma, a voter in Mandai, expressed his happiness to vote after a long gap, as he has almost forgotten what casting a ballot paper feels like. "It feels really good today after many days. The experience of voting in a VC election after so long was very peaceful, and I have been watching since 7 am as voters come here to vote. I have also come to the booth and cast my vote," he said. Another voter, Rina Debbarma, said the elections were being held after a long interval and that she had no complaints about the arrangements. "After ten years, not ten years, I don't know how many years, our election is being held. We have no problem. There are many facilities at the booth, and we are voting with the hope that we will get opportunities and facilities," she said. (ANI)
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