Ashish Srivastava, Director General in the Election Commission, on Wednesday reviewed Lok Sabha poll preparation in Tripura. He also held meetings with representatives of various political parties.
Mr. Srivastava stressed on the need of adhering model code of conduct to ensure a peaceful election. He praised the State for the record turnout (92 per cent) in the last Assembly poll and urged all concerned to maintain the same in the upcoming poll.
Security was one of the key features that figured in his meeting with State officials. The Election Commission has facilitated sanction of additional central paramilitary forces to ensure free and fair poll in view of Tripura government’s demand for 108 company additional forces.
The commission in its schedule marked Tripura for two phase election — unprecedented in election history of the State. The poll in West Tripura is slated for April 7 and East Tripura (Tribal Reserved) for April 12.
“He (Srivastava) stressed on the need for following code of conduct in all spheres of poll. He was of the opinion that since Tripura is going for a two-phase poll, there should not be any problem in ensuring a perfect election exercise,” an official who attend the meeting said.
While interacting with newsmen, Mr. Srivastava lauded record turnout of voters in the State. He said he reviewed security aspects with officials from different security forces including the BSF that has been told to keep a strict vigil along the State’s 856km boundary with Bangladesh.