Tripura records 51.42% voter turnout till 1 PM

As the voting for 60-member assembly in Tripura is underway amid tight security, the state on Thursday recorded 51.42% voter turnout till 1 pm.

A total of 3,337 polling stations have been set up across the state out of which 1,100 are marked as sensitive while 28 as critical. The counting of votes will take place on March 2.

The Chief Electoral Officer Kiren Gitte on Thursday afternoon said, “For the first time in the history of Tripura the election commission has allowed more than one polling agents in all the polling stations.

“There is no polling stations without a polling agent or more than one polling agents,” he said. The CEO however expressed hope that the voter turnout will cross 90% by the evening while voting ends.

He said, “This year we saw unprecedented law and order, very peaceful election elections. The commission has deployed more than 400 companies of paramilitary forces.”

The election is perceived by the voters of the state as very special for its inclusiveness, transparency, participation and peacefulness,” he said, adding that since December the commission has been working for ‘zero poll violence’ and now the commission is working for ‘zero re-poll mission’.

Meanwhile, the leader of opposition Manik Sarkar on Thursday alleged that BJP goons are causing trouble in some parts of the state, where the voters are being restricted from casting their vote. He however praised the role of the election commission and said, “The Commission is however taking prompt action against the complaints, but in few cases the commission needs to be more active and play a very active role to restrict violence.”

The CPI(M) took on to the party’s social media handle since Thursday morning with the video clips from Shantirbazar sub-division and other parts of the state, where the voters are shown restricted from casting their votes by a group of miscreants. The video clips also showed the miscreants resorted to violence and preventing voters on the way to the polling booths.

On the other hand the TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Manikya Deb Burman on Thursday complained of violence EVM malfunctioning in Dhanpur and Mohanpur assembly constituency. He however expressed hope that the TIPRA Motha will be able to gain the ground in this election.

The BJP is contesting on 55 seats and its ally on six seats as both parties have fielded their candidates from the Ampinagar constituency. The Left – which includes the CPM, Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Revolutionary Socialist Party ( RSP) – is contesting on 47 seats while Congress on 13 seats. The TIPRA Motha, headed by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, is contesting on 42 seats.