By TC News Desk
Agartala, 10th July 2024: The election for the three-tier Panchayat in Tripura is set to take place on August 8 across 2,650 polling stations. Tripura State Election Commissioner (SEC) Saradindu Chowdhury announced this during a press conference, noting that the current tenure of the three-tier Panchayat concludes on August 4.
Chowdhury detailed the electoral framework, mentioning the 6,370 seats distributed among 3,517 constituencies of 606 Gram Panchayats, 35 Panchayat Samities with 423 constituencies and seats, and 116 constituencies and seats under 8 Zila Parishads. The final electoral roll has been published, showing a total of 12,94,153 voters, comprising 6,58,445 males, 6,35,597 females, and 11 others.
The election schedule includes the issuance of the notification on July 11, the last date for nominations on July 18, scrutiny on July 19, and withdrawal of candidature by July 22. Voting is on August 8, with counting slated for August 12, and the entire process is to be completed by August 17. For voter identification, EPIC will be utilized, adhering to ECI guidelines.
Nomination papers will be accepted by the Returning Officers between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Ballot boxes will either be of the Godrej or Bungo type, with white ballot papers for Gram Panchayat seats, pink for Panchayat Samiti seats, and green for Zila Parishad seats. Counting will take place at Block Headquarters. The SEC has coordinated with District Election Officers and Returning Officers to ensure a free, fair, and peaceful election. Meetings have been held with representatives of all recognized national and state political parties to discuss the electoral process, and another meeting is planned soon.
Regarding security, proper arrangements and preventive measures are in place to ensure a conducive environment. The Commission has engaged with the Police Administration to review security arrangements. IG of Tripura Police, L. Darlong, emphasized the deployment of 18 companies of CAPF for maintaining law and order, with Tripura State Rifles stationed at polling stations to ensure smooth conduct of the elections.
