Tripura tribal council elections on April 13, code of conduct comes into force

Agartala, March 18: The State Election Commission (SEC) announced that the elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) would be held on April 13.

State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar said at a press conference that voting for 28 TTAADC seats will be held on April 13, while counting will take place on April 17.

The notification for the elections will be issued on March 18, Kumar said.

The SEC said that the last date for filing of nomination will be March 25, while scrutiny will be done on March 26, and the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers is March 28.

“The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force from today in the poll-bound areas of the tribal council. I urge the political parties to adhere to the MCC to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections,” he said on Tuesday.

The present tenure of the tribal council is scheduled to end on April 18.

The ruling TIPRA Motha Party (TMP) has 19 members in the tribal council, while the BJP has nine members and two members were nominated by the Governor.

Kumar said all necessary arrangements have been made to conduct the elections to the tribal council, and additional forces will be deployed for peaceful elections.

Tripura DGP Anurag said that tight security arrangements would be made at the polling booths so that voters can cast their votes without fear or intimidation.

“The police have already categorised all 1,257 polling booths from a security standpoint. Out of the total booths, 311 booths have been identified as high criticality index (A), 693 booths as security threat perception (B), and 253 are normal,” he said.

The DGP said that as many as 11,000 police, TSR and CRPF jawans would be engaged in security-related duties to ensure peace during the entire election process.

He said the BSF would intensify its vigil along the international border with Bangladesh to prevent any cross-border movement.

POLL SCHEDULE

• Voting will be held for 28 seats in the 30-member council

• Last date of filing nomination papers is March 25

• Scrutiny of papers will take place on March 26

• Counting of votes will be conducted on April 17

PTI