Election Commission appoints 60 counting observers for Tripura

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gitte Kirankumar Dinakarrao at a press meet on Saturday said that the Election Commission has decided to hold booth-level peace meetings in Tripura so that no unexpected incident takes place anywhere in the state during and after the vote-counting process.

The CEO stated that the booth-level peace meetings are scheduled to be held on February 27 and 28. He urged all political parties, professionals and eminent citizens to participate in these meetings to prevail peace prevails in Tripura on the counting day.
CEO added that counting is scheduled to take place across 21 venues in Tripura on March 2.
He said there will be a three-tier security layer at all the counting halls of the state.

CEO Gitte said that the state police will guard the first layer, the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) will guard the second, and central forces have been deployed for the final layer.
He also said that CCTVs have been installed inside all the halls for round-the-clock surveillance.

Notably, 60 observers and micro observers appointed by the Election Commission are also monitoring the overall process in all constituencies.

Chief Electoral Officer S Bandyopadhyay on Saturday said that the Election Commission has appointed a counting observer for each of the 60 assembly constituencies to oversee and ensure the counting of votes in a free and fair manner.

He added that these observers are expected to arrive in Tripura by February 28.
He further said that CEO Gitte Kirankumar Dinakarrao, Chief Secretary J K Sinha and DGP Amitabh Ranjan have already toured all districts of Tripura and held meetings with the district magistrates and superintendents of police.

Bandopadhyay said “They have reviewed the overall security scenario of all the districts and also taken stock of the security arrangements”
Notably, votes taken in the assembly elections will be counted on March 2 in 21 counting halls across Tripura within tight security.