By IANS,
Agartala : The Election Commission (EC) Wednesday began preparations for the assembly elections in the country’s lone Left-ruled state, Tripura.
Assembly elections in three northeastern states — Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland, which have 60 seats each — are scheduled for February next year.
The terms of the assemblies of these states expire March 10, March 16 and March 26 respectively.
Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi Wednesday held a series of meetings here with all recognised political parties, including the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the main opposition Congress, and all the eight district magistrates and superintendents of police.
“The deputy election commissioner will also hold a meeting with the director general of Tripura Police Thursday and discuss security arrangements for the ensuing elections,” Tripura’s Chief Election Officer (CEO) Ashutosh Jindal told reporters.
The EC has appointed four observers after rescheduling the ongoing revision of electoral rolls in Tripura following the Congress’ complaint about discrepancies in the voters’ lists.
The EC observers have been scrutinising the revision process of voters’ lists across the state.
According to Chief Election Officer Jindal, over 1,20,300 people, including 80,000 fresh voters, have applied to be included in the electoral rolls.
Jindal said: “Now the final publication of the electoral rolls will be made Jan 12 next year instead of the previously announced date of Jan 5 (2013).”