ECI postpones Tripura East (ST) polls to April 23

After receiving reports from the Tripura chief electoral officer (CEO) and Special Police Observer (SPO) that the current law and order situation in the state was not favorable to conduct the election on the scheduled date on April 18, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has postponed the poll date for Tripura East (ST) parliamentary constituency to April 23.

The returning officer (RO) for the Tripura East (ST) constituency has also communicated grave uneasiness that troublemakers may impede the election procedures, said the ECI in a notification. It said that constructed on the ground intelligence, the returning officer has also requested further central armed police forces.

ECI said that after bearing in mind the information from state CEO, SPO, RO and also taking into financial record responses from numerous sources, it has made a decision to defer the polls to April 23. It projected that law and order conditions in the constituency to develop and turn out to be favorable for conducting unrestricted and unbiased election with further procedures engaged throughout this period, said ECI.

Tripura CEO Sriram Taranikanti said "We hope that in next four five days we will be able to improve the law and order situation by taking up enough security measures and build confidence among the voters."

There were rumors of huge level violence in the first phase polls for the West Tripura parliamentary constituency on April 11. At least 23 persons were injured in the election associated violence in the state.

Oppositions were demanding fool-proof security, including security escorts for polling agents.