Paramilitary troops were deployed in strength at various sensitive locations in Tripura on Friday, ahead of counting of votes for the Assembly elections conducted in 59 Assembly constituencies on February 18.
Election in the Charilam (ST) constituency was countermanded and a by-poll was slated for March 12 after the demise of Communist Party of India (CPI-M) candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma.
The CPI(M) lost another candidate, Khagendra Jamatia, who passed away on Friday morning at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Mr. Jamatia was contesting in this election from his home turf, the Krishnapur (ST) constituency. Election department officials said the by-poll at Krishnapur would be necessitated only when the CPI(M) registers a victory in the constituency. The segment witnessed a multi-party contest.
Tripura has been placed under high alert in view of the counting slated to take place simultaneously in 20 centres across the State. Additional contingents of the Border Security Force (BSF) were deployed along the border with Bangladesh to check possible infiltration.
Section 144 of the CrPC was clamped along a 200-metre radius of the counting centres. “Installation of CCTV cameras and live web-casting are other precautionary measures in place,” said Chief Electoral Officer Sriram Taranikanti.
Mr. Taranikanti also remarked on the increase in the percentage of votes polled in the February 18 Assembly election. The final evaluated figure of 91.53% would further increase after the counting of postal and service ballots, as well as the votes in the Charilam by-election, he added.