14.2.13

Tripura polls today


India’s lone Left-ruled state Tripura goes for assembly polls today with the ruling CPI-M expected to face a challenge from the opposition Congress, which is out of power in the state for the past 20 years.
In the wake of threats from separatist outfits, a record 40,000 paramilitary and other security personnel have been deployed along with two air surveillance teams to conduct the polls in a free and fair manner in the northeastern state.
Polling for the 60-member assembly will begin at 7 am. In all, 23,55,446 people, about half of them women and 53,580 first-timers, are eligible to vote to decide the fate of the 249 candidates in the fray. Of the 60 seats, 20 are reserved for tribals and 10 for the Scheduled Castes.
Major political parties, including the CPI-M and the Congress, have expressed satisfaction over the measures and multi-pronged strategies of the Election Commission to hold the polls in a free atmosphere and with absolute neutrality.

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