Why is repolling ordered in 168 polling booths in Tripura?

By Hemanta Kumar Nath  |  First Published May 8, 2019, 8:43 PM IST

The opposition political parties including Congress and the CPI (M) alleged the presence of massive rigging, booth capturing, irregularities in the constituency at the time when voting was held on April 11

Guwahati: The Election Commission of India on Wednesday has ordered repolling at 168 centres of West Tripura Lok Sabha seat on May 12.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued the order following the demand made by major opposition parties to hold fresh polls in the entire Parliamentary constituency.

The opposition political parties including Congress and the CPI (M) alleged the presence of massive rigging, booth capturing, irregularities in the constituency at the time when voting was held on April 11.

Repolling at 168 booths out of 1679, spread over 26 of 30 Assembly constituencies under West Tripura Lok Sabha seat will be held on May 12 next.

Tripura Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sriram Taranikanti said that repolling will be held at 168 booths of West Tripura seat on May 12 and that all security measures have been taken up.

Meanwhile, additional security personnel have started arriving in the North Eastern state as part of the deployment exercise.

“Central paramilitary forces will be deployed in all the polling booths,” Tripura CEO said.

On the other hand, expressing dissatisfaction over the ECI’s order, Tripura Congress vice president Tapas Dey said that massive rigging, booth capturing incidents have taken place in the entire constituency, but the commission has ordered repolling in just a few centres.

“We are very surprised. There is no other option for us, but to move the Supreme Court,” Tapas Dey said. 

On the other hand, the EC had removed West Tripura district magistrate Sandeep Namdeo Mahatme, who was the returning officer of the concerned Lok Sabha seat. And he was replaced by East Tripura RO and district magistrate of Dhalai, Vikash Singh.

 

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