In Tripura, voting for two assembly seats underway peacefully

Voting for two assembly seats started peacefully at 7 a.m. Saturday under a thick security blanket.

Both opposition and ruling parties taking the bypolls seriously as the state assembly polls will be taking place in around the 14 months.

The by-elections are taking in the Scheduled Caste (Reserved) Barjala and Khowai assembly constituencies. The Barjala seat fell vacant after Congress legislator Jitendra Sarkar resigned on June 6, following an internal feud in the party, while the Khowai seat has been vacant since the death of CPM veteran Samir Deb Sarkar.

Paramilitary forces and Tripura State Rifles personnel have been deployed adequately for a safe, peaceful and smooth electioneering.

Voters and representatives of various political parties have expressed their satisfaction over the security arrangements.

The Election Commission has appointed three central observes to oversee the polling in the two assembly seats, and for the first time, webcasting of the polling is also taking place.

Both bypolls will be four-cornered contests, among Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM)-led ruling Left Front, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

Five candidates each are contesting in the two constituencies. In all, 39,007 voters, including 18,935 females, will be eligible to cast their ballot in the Barjala constituency, while in Khowai, 39,400 voters, including 19,436 women, are likely to cast votes.

Mina Das, a voter, "Voting is taking place peacefully and there is no problem. Normally, elections take place calmly here. The queue will be very long after 10a.m."

Dipali Sutradhar, another voter, said, "Here the security forces are performing their duties strictly. This time also, the election is peaceful.