Agartala, April 23 (Inditop) The gates on the barbed wire fence along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura would remain open till the balloting ends to enable all voters to exercise their franchise, an official said here Thursday.
“We have asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to open the gates on the border fence for the whole day to facilitate the voters to exercise their franchise,” said Dilip Acherjee, additional chief electoral officer.
The fence is 150 yards from the actual border, and many Indians have their homes and farms in between. The gates are usually opened 2-3 times day to enable them to move back and forth.
An estimated 45,000 people from 10,000 families were displaced after their homes and farms fell outside the fence. Though a large number of people shifted their houses inside the fencing, several thousand families still live outside.
Balloting is underway Thursday across Tripura to elect two members to the Lok Sabha.
rounak