Tripura campaigning on amid tight security

A total of 259 companies of paramilitary force personnel are patrolling and keeping vigil all over Tripura where campaigning for the February 14 assembly election is going on in full swing.

There have been sporadic incidents of across the state involving supporters of the ruling Left Front and the Congress party.

An official source informed rediff.com that the opposition Congress party had requested the Election Commission to deploy additional forces in the state, which is considered the last bastion of the Left Front in the country.

Campaigning by all the political parties has reached a crescendo. The Left Front and the Congress have gone on an overdrive to make inroads among the voters.

Both parties have even resorted to door-to-door campaigns in many parts of the state.

One of the highlights of the Tripura electioneering has been that people from various neighbourhoods/villages

are coming out on the street in a procession in the evening hours holding flags of the party they are going to support in the polls.

Music and melodies have dominated the campaigning process so far with both the Congress and the Left Front resorting to playing songs composed in the dominant Bengali language to attract voters. 

Father Ronald of a catholic church near Agartala observed that this year’s poll campaign had been full of vigour and without any sense of fear or apprehension.

About 23.55 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchise in the February 14 election for the 60-member assembly. There are 11,98,970 male voters and 11,56,476 female voters in the state.

Polling will be held in 3,041 polling stations.

A total of 249 candidates are in the fray, including 14 women candidates.