Agartala, April 16, 2024: In a bid to ensure a smooth electoral process, the Chief Electoral Officer Puneet Agarwal accompanied by the Returning Officer (RO) of the West Tripura Parliamentary constituency Dr. Vishal Kumar conducted an inspection of the postal ballot voting facilitation center situated at Shishu Bihar HS School in Agartala city on Tuesday.

Addressing reporters during the inspection, the CEO Agarwal revealed that approximately 12,000 postal ballots had been issued to government officials enlisted for election duty to facilitate their voting. The voting period commenced on April 15 and will continue until April 17.

Agarwal elaborated, stating that service personnel from the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) stationed in various states, including Delhi and Chhattisgarh, have already exercised their voting rights as service voters through postal ballots, which were dispatched to them earlier. These completed postal ballots are expected to be returned to the state via postal services.

Providing updates on security measures, the CEO disclosed that contraband goods, predominantly consisting of liquor and narcotics, with an estimated value of approximately Rs 25 crore, have been seized thus far. Security forces have intensified area domination operations in both parliamentary constituencies in Tripura, with heightened vigilance at all checkpoints.

Furthermore, Agarwal outlined the schedule for polling activities, stating that polling parties, accompanied by security personnel, are slated to commence their journey to respective polling stations on April 18. The voting process will officially commence on the morning of April 19 in the West Tripura parliamentary seat.