Polling for the Village Committee elections under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) began on Monday, September 28, amid elaborate security arrangements across the state. No untoward incident had been reported till the time of filing this report.
Speaking with media, Tripura State Election Commission (SEC) Secretary Anurag Sen said voting began smoothly at all polling stations at 7 am.
The elections were being held for 2,950 seats across 587 Village Committees. Of the total 4,597 seats, 1,644 had already been declared elected unopposed, while three seats remained vacant after no nominations were received. A total of 8,176 candidates were in the fray, with around 6.65 lakh voters eligible to cast their ballots in the constituencies where polling was taking place.
Voting was being conducted at 1,095 of the 1,550 identified polling stations where candidates were contesting. Four colours of ballot papers — white, light pink, light green and light blue — were being used for different seats to help voters and polling personnel identify them.
The SEC deployed 74 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) across Tripura for the elections. Around 8,977 personnel from the state police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) were also deployed, along with more than 1,500 senior officers from various security agencies to oversee the law-and-order situation. Additional security measures were put in place at polling stations classified as highly sensitive.
As many as 7,458 polling personnel, organised into 1,243 teams, were assigned election duties across the polling stations.
West Tripura district Superintendent of Police Namit Pathak, who was inspecting polling stations, said voting began on schedule and voters had started arriving.
“The polling started at 7 am. Voters are arriving to cast their ballots and the overall situation remains peaceful,” Pathak said.
He added, “Security forces have been deployed, and a total of 29 polling booths are under West Tripura district where polling is being conducted.”
