Polling for the Tripura sssembly elections began amid tight security at 7am on Thursday. According to the Election Commission, over 28.14 lakh electorates of which 14,15,233 are male voters, 13,99,289 are woman voters and 62 are of the third gender, are eligible to cast their franchise.
Adequate security arrangements have been made for the polls. The state has 97 all-women-managed police stations. It has 94,815 voters in the 18-19 age group and 6,21,505 in the 22-29 age group. The state is set for a three-cornered fight with the CPI(M)-Congress alliance and the TIPRA Motha challenging the BJP’s bid to retain power in the northeastern state. The BJP, which fought in alliance with IPFT in 2018, is again contesting with its tribal ally, though the IPFT has been given only 5 seats this time, compared to 9 in the last elections. While the BJP is fighting to defend its fort in Tripura – a state it had won for the first time five years back — once rivals CPI(M) and Congress are fighting to recover lost turf.