Tripura: EVMs, VVPATs arrive from Hyderabad for next year’s assembly polls

Five months ahead of the Tripura assembly polls, as many as 4,900 EVMs and VVPATs arrived from Hyderabad, an election official said on October 3. 

The machines were stored in a warehouse in Tripura West district in the presence of representatives of recognised political parties, Additional Chief Election Officer Use Jen Mog said. 

"We have received 4,900 EVMs and VVPATs from Hyderabad, as was directed by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The poll materials, as of now, have been stored at a warehouse in Tripura. They will be dispatched to seven other districts of the state, as per requirement, after the puja holidays," Mog. 

The state earlier had 1,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) "At present, the state has 5,900 EVMs and VVPATs, which are enough for the smooth conduct of assembly elections in all 3,324 polling booths of the state.

EVMs with VVPATs will be used in all booths to ensure complete transparency in the poll process," he maintained. Mog also said that training on the use of EVMS and VVPATs would be imparted to poll officials on November 8 by experts of ECIL, Hyderabad.

Notably, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shall continue its ally with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) in Tripura but is likely to be offered a minimum number of sets in the coming 2023 assembly election as it performed very poorly in the last tribal council election, hinted the saffron party’s chief spokesman Subrata Chakraborty speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the two days ‘Chintan Baithak’ on September 24.