LS polls: High voltage clash anticipated in West Tripura ahead of election day

Agartala [Tripura], April 18 : The stage is set for a high-stakes electoral showdown in Tripura as the polling for the West Tripura and Ramnagar by-elections promises a multi-cornered contest, with nine candidates are in the fray West Tripura and two candidates from Ramnagar.
Polling officials have been deployed to their respective stations for the polling to be undertaken tomorrow.
According to the Election Commission Data, nominations of as many as nine candidates are found to be valid and hence they are set for the multi-cornered contest.
If small and marginal players like SUCI, Amra Bangali and independent candidates are set aside, the constituency is set to witness a high profile contest between BJP candidate Biplab Kumar Deb who also happens to be the former Chief Minister of Tripura and opposition INDIA Bloc candidate Asish Kumar Saha.
One of the constituencies that will be closely watched is Tripura West.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a significant presence in Tripura and emerged victorious in the two Lok Sabha seats in the state during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party is now aiming to sustain its winning streak in the Tripura West constituency.
Saha is the sitting president of Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee and enjoys support of the principal opposition party CPIM.
Chief Electoral Officer of Tripura Puneet Agarwal on Thursday inspected the poll preparedness at Umakanta School premises which from where the election materials are being distributed among the polls officials. The strong room for West Tripura is also set up here. Other senior poll officials including Returning Officer for the constituency Dr Vishal Kumar was also present during the visit.
Speaking on the election preparedness, the Chief Electoral Officer said, "We have been reviewing the preparations of the polls almost everyday. Tomorrow the West Tripura is going for polls. We have come over here to see how the dispersal activities were going on. Teams from eight assembly segments are leaving from here. Things are going well and within a short period of time the process will end. By the end of the day we will get a proper report of the process and tomorrow morning the poll process will start with mock poll schedule on 5:30 am in the morning."
On being asked about the possibilities rising temperature on the day of polls, the Chief Electoral Officer said, "Water is a very important component which is a must in the summer season. We shall arrange drinking water and toilet facilities in all polling stations. Adequate arrangements of waiting sheds have also been made for the voters so that they can avoid the scorching sun rays."
Sharing further details on the polling stations, Returning Officer West Tripura Dr Vishal Kumar said, "In West Tripura, we have 793 polling stations. Out of that 58 polling stations are managed by women staff alone. In seven polling stations, PwD officials will supervise the election process. Around 28 polling stations are categorized as model polling stations. The total number of polling and security personnel for West Tripura is around eight to ten thousand."
In the first phase, polling will be held in Arunachal Pradesh (2 seats), Assam (5), Bihar (4), Chhattisgarh (1), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (5), Manipur (2), Meghalaya (2), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Rajasthan (12), Sikkim (1), Tamil Nadu (39), Tripura (1), Uttar Pradesh (8), Uttarakhand (5), West Bengal (3), Andaman and Nicobar (1), Jammu and Kashmir (1), Lakshadweep (1) and Puducherry (1).
The campaign for the Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency and the Ramnagar Assembly constituency by-poll also ended at 5 pm on Wednesday.
The 2024 general elections will be held in India in seven phases, from April 19 to June 1, to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The results will be announced on June 4.