Agartala, September 28: Polling for the General Election to the Village Committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) began across the state on Monday, with voters from remote and far-flung areas turning up at polling stations to exercise their franchise.
Voters in several tribal and rural areas were seen making their way to polling stations despite difficult terrain and geographical challenges in parts of the TTAADC region.
The State Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements across the state to ensure peaceful and orderly polling.
From remote habitations to polling stations located in more accessible areas, voters are participating in the electoral process to choose representatives for their local Village Committees.
The SEC has appealed to voters to exercise their franchise peacefully and without fear and urged them to follow the prescribed election guidelines.
The election is being held for 2,950 seats across 587 Village Committees, with around 6.65 lakh voters eligible to cast their ballots.
A total of 8,176 candidates are in the fray for the seats going to polls, while 1,644 seats have already been filled unopposed. No nominations were received for three seats, according to the SEC.
The polling is being conducted amid heightened security arrangements, with authorities deploying personnel across polling stations and vulnerable areas to maintain law and order.
According to the SEC, 74 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed for the election. In addition, 8,977 personnel from the Tripura Police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) have been assigned election-related duties.
Around 1,500 security officers have also been deployed to monitor the overall law-and-order situation during polling.
Additional security arrangements have been made at sensitive polling stations, with security personnel maintaining a close watch on the movement of voters and other election-related activities.
The Village Committee elections are significant for local governance in the areas under the TTAADC, which covers a large part of the state's tribal-dominated regions.
The polling is taking place after an extensive election process that included the filing and scrutiny of nominations, withdrawals and deployment of polling personnel and security forces.
Officials said arrangements have been made to facilitate voting in remote areas and ensure that eligible voters can participate in the electoral process.
The counting of votes will be taken up as per the schedule announced by the State Election Commission.
