Three-tier security is in place for the counting of votes for over 200 seats in the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) and other civic bodies in Tripura, where it was held on Thursday amid court cases, arrests, and allegations of attacks by political parties, a senior police official said on Saturday.
The counting will be held on Sunday and apart from the scheduled security deployment, Tripura State Rifles and central armed police force have been deployed for the maintenance of law and order in areas adjoining the counting centers, he said.
A statement issued by the Assistant Inspector General of Police (law and order) Subrata Chakrabarty also appealed to the people to be wary of any kind of rumours.
"The counting of votes in connection with General Election to the Municipal and Nagar Panchayat, 2021 for 6 Nagar Panchayats, 7 Municipal Council and the Agartala Municipal Corporation will be conducted in 13 counting centers all over the state. In this regard, adequate police arrangement has been made for each counting centre. For maintenance of law & order during the counting of votes, a three-tier security arrangement has been made for each counting centre by deploying CAPF as well as State Police and Tripura State Rifles", a statement issued by Subrata Chakraborty said.
Altogether there are 334 seats in the urban local bodies, including Agartala Municipal Corporation (51 wards), 13 municipal councils, and six Nagar panchayats in the state. The ruling BJP has fielded candidates in all seats in the Tripura civic elections and has already won 112 out of the total 334 seats uncontested in the Agartala Municipal Corporation and 19 urban bodies.
In the remaining 222 seats, as many as 785 contestants are in the fray after 36 candidates withdrew their nominations.
The elections were fought mainly between the three parties - the BJP, the TMC, and CPI(M).
TMC has demanded total countermanding of the election alleging that it was "heavily rigged and reduced to a farce" by the ruling BJP.
Opposition CPI-M has demanded countermanding of elections in five wards of AMC.
Both the parties alleged that police and the state election commission had remained silent spectators despite complaints of rigging by "goons sheltered by BJP".
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya in a statement said the party's leaders held detailed discussions on the role of party karyakartas in connection with the counting and the situation after it.
"Party karyakartas were asked to maintain discipline and to act as per the directions of the state leaders and should follow the organisational tradition after the announcement of the results", Bhattacharya said in a statement.
Yashasvi Jaiswal's Brother Quit Cricket, Mumbai As Both Couldn't Afford 2 Meals; Now He Is Ranji Trophy Star Tripura Minister Sparks Row With "Waqf-Sanatan Board" Comment 5 Tripura Cops Arrested After Man's Death Due To Alleged Custodial Torture Amazon Employee Greets Friend At Wedding, Dies Of Cardiac Arrest "Thousand Times Better...": Delhi Lt Governor's Surprise For AAP's Atishi Indian Student In US Accidentally Shoots Himself Dead While Celebrating Birthday Users Question Authenticity Of Viral Post As Bride's Train Photo Goes Viral Over 100 Monkeys Die After Inhaling Pesticide In UP, Buried Secretly: Cops Jharkhand Elections: Exit Polls Give NDA Edge, But Hemant Soren Confident Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.