Agartala, Apr 2 (PTI) Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel, who have been deployed in Delhi and Chhattisgarh, are eligible to exercise their franchise as 'service voters' for the first time in the elections to two Lok Sabha constituencies and a by-poll to an assembly segment in the northeastern state, a poll official said on Tuesday.
Around 1,500 TSR personnel, including officers, will be treated as service voters and this tag will enable them to cast their votes in the upcoming polls, he said.
TSR personnel, who were deployed outside the state, could not exercise their franchise in last year's assembly elections as they were not treated as service voters then, the official said.
Additional Chief Electoral Officer S Bandopadhyay said the Election Commission of India (ECI) has approved the enrolment of TSR personnel, engaged in duties in Delhi and Chhattisgarh, as 'service voters' and advised the office of the CEO of Tripura to take initiatives to make a list of these security persons.
CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury has recently written to the EC, requesting the poll panel to consider Tripura State Rifles jawans working outside the state as service voters.
"All TSR personnel, now engaged in Delhi and Chhattisgarh, are being facilitated to be enrolled as service voters. A report indicating the action taken in this regard was received from the police authority," the additional CEO told PTI.
Members of the armed and para-military forces of the Centre are normally granted service voters status so that they can cast their votes. They exercise their franchise through electronically transmitted postal ballots.
Polls to the Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency and by-election to the Ramnagar assembly will be held on April 19 while the Tripura East parliamentary seat will go to poll on April 26.
The CPI(M) state secretary has thanked the EC and the state election authority for their prompt action to ensure the democratic rights of those TSR personnel.