Voting begins amidst tight security in Tripura

Agartala: Voting for Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency and by-election in Ramnagar Assembly constituency began at 7 am on Friday amid tight security, a poll official said.

Although nine candidates are in the fray in Tripura West Lok Sabha seat, the battle will be mainly between BJP candidate Biplab Kumar Deb and state Congress president Asish Kumar Saha, who is supported by the INDIA bloc.

Altogether 14.61 lakh voters - 7.33 lakh men and 7.28 lakh women - are eligible to exercise their franchise.

“Central paramilitary forces were deployed in all polling booths, while personnel of other forces were also made available to ensure peaceful voting. Webcasting is being carried out in all booths to ensure free and fair voting,” the official said.

The Indo-Bangladesh border has been sealed to thwart any intrusion bid during the voting process.

In the Ramnagar Assembly by-election, the battle line has been drawn between BJP candidate, Agartala Mayor Dipak Majumer, and former CPI(M) MLA Ratan Das.

As many as 54,669 voters are expected to cast their votes in the by-poll.

The by-poll was necessitated following the death of BJP MLA Surajit Datta.