All preparations in Tripura are done and the state is set to hold assembly elections on Thursday, said Chief Electoral Officer Gitte Kirankumar Dinakarro.
The voting will start at 7 am on Thursday and is expected to conclude by 4 pm. The counting of votes will be counted on March 2 along with the votes polled in elections in Meghalaya and Nagaland later this month.
All preparations in Tripura are done and the state is set to hold assembly elections on Thursday, said Chief Electoral Officer Gitte Kirankumar Dinakarro.
The elections will be held in single phase across the state. The voting will start at 7 am.
Tripura's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing the Left-Congress alliance and Tipra Motha party that has emerged as a strong tribal voice. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has also emerged as a new entrant in Tripura.
There are 60 assembly seats in Tripura. The voting will start at 7 am on Thursday and is expected to conclude by 4 pm.
The counting of votes will be counted on March 2 along with the votes polled in elections in Meghalaya and Nagaland later this month.
There are 3,337 polling stations across 60 constituencies, out of which 1,100 were identified as sensitive and 28 as critical, Dinakarro told PTI.
Altogether 28.13 lakh voters including 13.53 lakh women will decide the fate of 259 aspirants of whom 20 are women.
Several thousands of security personnel have been deployed across the states and other measures have also been taken for peaceful conduct of polls.
"As many as 31,000 polling personnel and 25,000 security personnel of central forces are ready to conduct the election in a free, fair and peaceful manner. Besides, 31,000 employees of the state armed police and the state police will be deployed to maintain law and order," said Dinakarro.
As part of the precautionary measures, prohibitory order has already been imposed across Tripura and will remain in force till 6 am on February 17, a senior police officer said.
The international and inter-state boundaries have also been sealed to prevent trouble mongers from entering the state.
Chief Minister Manik Saha is the BJP nominee from the Town Bardowali constituency, while Union minister Pratima Bhowmik is contesting from Dhanpur on the saffron party's ticket. CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chadudhury who is the face of the Left-Congress combine, is fighting for the Sabroom Assembly seat.
Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Debbarma is not in the fray.
The BJP is contesting in 55 seats, its ally IPFT has fielded candidates in six constituencies, while there will be a friendly fight in one seat.
The CPI(M) is contesting in 47 seats while its alliance partner Congress is fighting in 13 constituencies. The Tipra Motha has candidates in 42 seats.
The Trinamool Congress has fielded nominees in 28 constituencies while there are 58 independent aspirants.
The ruling BJP has fielded the highest number of women candidates with 12.
During the campaigning, the BJP highlighted the development that has taken place in the northeastern state in the last five years, the Left Front and the Congress stressed on “misrule and misgovernance” of the BJP-IPFT government.
The poll plank of Tipra Motha is Greater Tipraland statehood demand.
Dr Biswaranjan Tripura of Centre for Social Justice and Governance at Tata Institute of Social Sciences noted that Tipra Motha "drastically changed the indigenous politics in the state by first forming the government in the TTAADC in 2021, being the single largest regional political party in the state".
Tipra Motha has emerged as the leading party of Tripura's tribal people, who have repeatedly seen parties raising their issues and failing to act on them after elections.
Tripura notes that the Tipra Motha has the potential to change the future of state politics.
"The TIPRA Motha has the potential to shape the current indigenous politics in Tripura, provided it remains fully-committed to its core ideology, continue to struggle politically for the rights of the indigenous people of Tripura, and honestly pursue a permanent constitutional solution for its constituents," noted Tripura in an article for Outlook.
(With PTI inputs)