Agartala, Jan 20: Three Special Observers have been appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for Tripura assembly polls scheduled on February 16 next.
An ECI statement read, “Three Special Observers have been appointed by the Commission. They have been asked to proceed to the State immediately to take stock of the situation, ensure proper deployment of CAPF, intensify enforcement measures and report back to the Commission.”
The three Special Observers are- Yogendra Tripathy, Vivek Johri and B. Murali Kumar.
Tripathy is an illustrious IAS officer retired as Secretary to Government of India having handled multifarious assignments both in the Centre and the State.
Johri, is an acclaimed IPS officer having served as DGP of Madhya Pradesh and extensive experience of handling central agencies as well as profound knowledge of the northeast and international security concerns.
B. Murali Kumar, an IRS officer of 1983 batch, performed duties as special Observer in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat assembly elections- 2022 and West Bengal assembly polls in 2021. Seizure of Rs. 800 crore was done in the last Gujarat assembly elections.
Meanwhile, in connection with the recent political violence in Jirania sub-division under West Tripura district, the ECI has passed an instruction to Chief Secretary and DGP of Tripura to suspend and remove Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Jirania, and remove Officer-in-Charge (OCs) of Jirania and Ranir Bazar police stations ‘for not taking appropriate action in time’.
According to ECI, “The report from State Government confirmed that Dr. Ajoy Kumar sustained minor injuries in an unlawful rally (incident happened in the area where permission was not given by district authorities) and it is not true that he received serious injuries.”
The ECI also directed the Chief Electoral Officer, Tripura to reiterate to the District Election Officers to facilitate the permission to political parties on first-cum-first basis and popularize SUVIDHA App for disposing off applications of political parties for meetings, rallies, and road shows etc..
The Election Commission of India asked the Chief Secretary and the DGP of Tripura to assess the threat perception to the leaders of various political parties in the state and provide security as per threat perception without further delay.
As announced by the ECI, the voting will take place on February 16 while the counting of votes will be held on March 02 in Tripura. With the announcement of the election, the Model Code of Conduct has already come into effect.
The last date of filing nomination is January 30. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on January 31 while the last date for withdrawal of nomination is February 2. The election process would be completed by March 04.
