SHILLONG: The issue of alleged dubious voters in Tripura is another factor, besides the pending peace settlement in Nagaland, which is delaying the announcement of poll dates for the three northeastern states, including Meghalaya.
Sources said on Monday that the Election Commission of India had rushed in officials to Tripura to check the electoral rolls after the issue of dubious voters was flagged by political parties and the state media.
Earlier, BJP had complained to the Election Commission about the inaccuracy in voters’ list.
Before publishing the final electoral rolls, names of as many as 34,845 dubious voters were deleted in Tripura.
One of the assistant election commissioners will reach Tripura on January 18 to assess the purification of electoral rolls following which the Commission will declare the poll date.
Earlier, the Election Commission had on January 11 declared the date for the 2013 Assembly polls for three northeastern states.
The problem in Nagaland is that the government wanted peace settlement with insurgent groups prior to holding the polls.
Compared to Nagaland and Tripura, Meghalaya is free from any trouble but it has to wait for the problems of other two states to be settled before the Election Commission announces the date.
The expiry of the Assemblies in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura is on March 6, 13 and 14, respectively.
