Poll prep in Tripura begins, ECI team holds meeting

Agartala: The senior Deputy Election Commissioner Nitish Kumar Vyas and Deputy Election Commissioner R K Gupta on Wednesday held several rounds of meetings with the election machinery to review the poll preparation of Tripura scheduled to be held in February next year.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) delegation arrived here on Tuesday for a two-day visit to the state to assess the pre-poll situation and inspect the state’s preparedness to hold the elections. They held an extensive meeting with the District Magistrates and District Superintendent of Police of all eight districts soon after the arrival.

The ECI officials have also held a separate meeting with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Kiran Gitte and took stock of the situation. They are scheduled to inspect the ongoing election works in the state and to get feedback from the different stakeholders regarding the political situation of the state.

The state election authority has already published the draft electoral roll and is now carrying out the correction, inclusion, and deletion of the voters at the booth level. 

The ECI has already announced to publish the final electoral roll-on January 5 next year based on which election scheduled for 60 -members assembly would likely be declared in the second week of January.

According to officials here, the state government has also apprised its intention of holding elections on time to ECI while the opposition Congress and CPM have also met ECI on several occasions and submitted memorandums demanding to hold a free, fair, and peaceful election.

The full bench of ECI is expected to visit the state at the end of next month and hold meetings with the political parties and other stakeholders before announcing the election schedule.

The CPM apprised ECI earlier that a large number of motorbikes registered with the Uttar Pradesh government were brought to Tripura and kept in a youth hostel in the city for a week, which has allegedly been distributed among the BJP cadres across the state for terror-mongering during elections like all previous polls under BJP.

The Congress had sought action from ECI to undertake steps to hold peaceful elections, as under BJP’s rule since 2018 none of the elections in Tripura was held free and fair. 

The BJP cadres looted the votes in Loksabha elections, three-tier panchayat, and by-elections through violence but the police had no role. A large number of genuine voters were prevented 

from exercising their rights, alleged Congress MLA Sudip Roybarman.