Agartala, April 18: With just a day left for the West Tripura Lok Sabha election, polling officials have swung into action, transporting EVMs, essential equipment and materials to their designated polling stations from the Umakanta Academy here which is the polling material dispatch center for this seat.
Spearheaded by Vishal Kumar, the Returning Officer for the constituency, a contingent of over 15,000 officials, flanked by a robust security detail comprising state police and central paramilitary forces, is ensuring the logistical readiness for the impending electoral exercise.
The electoral battleground is primed for a showdown between ruling BJP candidate former CM, Biplab Kumar Deb, and his challenger from the INDIA bloc, former MLA Asish Kumar Saha, who also serves as the Tripura Pradesh Congress president.
With a shared sentiment of confidence in the arrangements, polling officials are optimistic about conducting a peaceful election.
In a bid to bolster security measures, the Election Commission has deployed an additional 100 companies of central paramilitary forces, augmenting the existing presence of local police, state paramilitary forces, and BSF personnel along the border.
As per the Election Commission, 14,63,526 voters including 7,34,133 males, 7,29,337 females and 56 voters of the third gender are scheduled to cast their votes in 1686 polling centers in West Tripura Parliamentary constituency.
Furthermore, this year marks an expansion in the electoral infrastructure, with the total number of polling stations reaching 3350 across all eight districts of the state, inclusive of 21 new stations compared to the previous general assembly elections.
Noteworthy is the establishment of a new polling station in South Tripura, catering to the needs of Bru migrants as part of a quadripartite agreement involving the central and state governments of Tripura and Mizoram.
