The chief electoral officer (CEO) of Tripura, Sriram Taranikanti, said the atmosphere for Lok Sabha elections in the State is ‘perfectly conducive’.
The Tripura CEO’s comments come following allegations brought by the CPI(M) about largescale pre-poll violence.
Addressing media persons here, Taranikanti said, “We hope to conduct a peaceful, free and fair Parliament election in Tripura, because the situation is conducive… The Centre has assured to dispatch adequate security forces for smooth conduct of polls.”
Election Commission of India (ECI) recently announced that the parliamentary elections in Tripura will be held in two phases – April 11 and April 18, 2018 – for its two seats.
According to reports, in Tripura, a total of 25,98,290 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls in the West Tripura and East Tripura (ST) constituencies.
Last month, the CPI(M) state secretary reportedly had claimed that more than 1,500 persons came under attack in incidents of pre-poll violence in the last few months across Tripura, reports Money Control.
Speaking to reporters, CEO Taranikanti said adequate central security forces would be deployed in Tripura to prevent incidents of violence related to election.
The report quoted Taranikanti as saying: “We shall deploy flying squads, static surveillance teams and video surveillance teams to ensure observance of the model code of conduct.”
“Election observers shall also visit the state. We have an atmosphere perfectly conducive for holding Parliament elections here,” the Tripura CRO added.
Tripura CEO Taranikanti also informed that some complaints on poll-related issues have been lodged in each of the eight districts of Tripura.
However, most of the issues have been resolved, said CEO Taranikant.