The Tripura State Election Commission has assigned 23 observers to oversee the upcoming urban local body elections, with additional officials kept on standby, State Election Commissioner P K Chakraborty said on November 6.
The observers were briefed at a meeting chaired by Chakraborty and were scheduled to begin field visits on Friday evening. They will also attend the scrutiny of nomination papers on Saturday and monitor subsequent stages of the election process.
Their responsibilities include visiting designated areas, coordinating with Returning Officers, checking polling arrangements and inspecting police stations within their jurisdictions. They will submit around five reports to the Commission at different stages, covering nomination scrutiny, withdrawal of nominations, final candidate lists, polling arrangements and any reported irregularities.
Observers will also document incidents of violence and may be asked to assess circumstances requiring repolling. They will remain at their respective counting centres until the counting process concludes and submit final reports afterwards.
Chakraborty described the observers as the Commission’s “eyes and ears”, stressing that their role was to independently assess the process and report findings. He clarified that they would not normally issue instructions to Returning Officers, although they could offer advice when required.
The State Election Commissioner also rejected reports that candidates were being prevented from filing nomination papers. He said no Returning Officer had reported any obstruction or security-related difficulty, despite opposition allegations and a gherao outside the Election Commission office.
Chakraborty said he had spoken to all concerned Returning Officers and remained in contact with them and District Municipal Election Officers over the preceding three to four days. He added that security personnel had been deployed at nomination offices and along routes used by candidates.
The Commission was coordinating with officials across all four subdivisions, he said, assuring that candidates from every political party would have adequate security to submit their nomination papers.
