Bihar Assembly polls: Over 400 Tripura State Rifles personnel to provide security

Agartala, Oct 25 (IANS) Acting on the directives of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), over 400 personnel of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) will be deployed to assist in maintaining security during the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, officials said here on Saturday.

A senior official of the Tripura Home Department said that over 400 jawans of the TSR, led by Commandant Jyotishman Daschoudhuri, left for Bihar by a special train on Friday night and are expected to reach Patna on Sunday night or Monday morning.

Five Assistant Commandants have also accompanied the TSR personnel.

"After reaching Patna, the Election Commission, in consultation with the nodal security officials, will decide the deployment of TSR in any of the districts of the state. The TSR personnel will provide security during both phases of the Bihar Assembly elections," the official told IANS.

The crucial elections to the Bihar Assembly will be held in two phases, covering all 243 constituencies in the state. The first phase of polling will take place on November 6 for 121 constituencies, while the second phase on November 11 will cover the remaining 122 constituencies.

Tripura's elite force, the TSR, has already earned wide acclaim for providing security during elections and other major events across several states in the country.

The TSR currently has 14 battalions, the majority of which are India Reserve (IR) battalions that can be deployed in any state if required by the MHA.

A few months ago, the MHA sanctioned another TSR battalion for the state. Two TSR battalions, comprising around 2,000 personnel including officers, have been posted in the national capital under the Delhi Police since 2019, and in the South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) area in Chhattisgarh since 2022.

Apart from the deployments in Delhi and Chhattisgarh, one TSR battalion is providing dedicated security to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) drilling sites in Tripura.

During the Lok Sabha elections held between April 19 and June 1 last year, TSR personnel were deployed for polling duties in Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha, and Himachal Pradesh.

Besides providing security during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the India Reserve battalions of TSR have previously performed election duties in almost all states to ensure smooth and peaceful Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

Trained in counter-insurgency operations, TSR troopers have demonstrated exceptional performance in Tripura, successfully curbing the four-decade-old insurgency in the Northeastern state. In view of the growing insurgency in Tripura during the 1980s, the TSR force was raised on the pattern of the Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMF).

Subsequently, the Tripura Assembly passed the Tripura State Rifles Act, 1983.

The official said that TSR's role in combating and controlling insurgency in Tripura without any human rights violations has been widely appreciated.

The professionalism and high standards of the force have been recognised on numerous occasions at the national level. Known for its operational adaptability and expertise in terrain mapping, the force has made significant contributions in conducting elections in sensitive areas across the country, the official added.

--IANS

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