Security beefed up for Wednesday’s Tripura civic polls

Over 5.24 lakh voters will decide the fate of a record 886 candidates in the fray, 429 of whom are women. (File/PTI Photo)

Security has been beefed up across Tripura as the state heads for election to 19 municipal bodies and the Agartala Municipal Corporation on Wednesday. Over 6,600 additional security personnel have been deployed to provide security to 657 polling stations while high alert has been issued along the state’s 856-km international boundary with Bangladesh.

Over 5.24 lakh voters will decide the fate of a record 886 candidates in the fray, 429 of whom are women. While it is a triangular contest in most of the councils, the ruling CPI(M) has an edge over its rivals – BJP and Congress – both of which are organizationally much behind the Left party. Despite that, BJP has put in its best efforts by projecting it as a viable alternative in the wake of the diminishing Congress strength there.

Anurag Dhankar, IGP(L&O) said in Agartala that 378 of the 657 polling stations have been identified as “A” and 279 as “B” according to the security perspective. Five armed security personnel are being deployed in each “A” category booth and three in each “B” category booth, he said.

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While chief minister Manik Sarkar led the campaign – that ended on Monday – for the CPI(M), the BJP roped in Roopa Ganguly, Sunil Deodhar and Rahul Sinha to boost up its campaign.

The Congress meanwhile alleged that the ruling CPI(M) was threatening opposition campaigners and also using official machinery to win the elections. The CPI(M) however termed this allegation as baseless and said the people would vote overwhelmingly for the ruling party.