No voter allowed without photo IDs

Agartala, Feb 21: Tripura is all set to become the only state in the country to go for the February 23 polls where the entire electorate will exercise their franchise with Election Commission's specified photo identity cards.

Chief Electoral Officer Dr G S G Ayyangar told media that they have already distributed such identity cards among cent percent of the electorate and nobody would be allowed to stand in a queue without a photo-affixed identity card.

"This is definitely a new thing because in no other state in the country has had hundred per cent voter identity cards. It is also the first time that the election commission was deploying special Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in all polling booths across the state," Dr Ayyanger said.

Such special machines would totally preclude false voting or rigging while it would record the number of voters who cast ballots within an hour, besides recording the electronic impression of voters thumbs, he added.

According to statistics, the highest number of voters of 66,119 was in Badharghat followed by 64,646 in Pratapgarh in West Tripura. They will decide the fate of seven and five candidates respectively. The highest number of contestants-- eight-- are in the fray in Fatikroy constituency, with 30,574 voters.

UNI