Voting in Tripura assembly elections will be held between 7 am and 4 pm today
Agartala: Tripura votes today in assembly elections that will for the first time see a direct contest between the Left front that has been in power for 25 years and an alliance led by the BJP that's keen on expanding its footprint in the Northeast. Today's election will decide the fate of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar who is seeking a fifth straight term. Eyeing the 32 per cent tribal voters in the state, the BJP has tied up with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), a party that wants a separate state for tribals carved out of Tripura.
Here are the top 10 updates
- Polling will be held for 59 of the 60 assembly seats today. Election in Charilam, which was postponed after the death of CPM candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma, will be held on March 12.
- Voting will be held between 7 am and 4 pm at 3,214 polling stations, of which 47 would be managed only by women.
- Today's polls will decide the electoral fortunes of 292 candidates, including 23 women. The Left front and the BJP-led alliance are contesting all the seats. The Congress has put up candidates in all but one seat.
- Tripura has about 26 lakh voters, about half of them are women. The number of third gender voters is 11. There are 47,803 new voters this time.
- 300 companies of central forces have been deployed to ensure free and fair polling. Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) R K Pachnanda has been appointed special observer to coordinate the security forces on election duty.
- Mr Sarkar, who was the face of the Left campaign, extensively covered all the constituencies. Keen on making inroads into the Left bastion, the BJP roped in its top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to unseat the Left Front government that won 50 of the 60 seats in the last assembly polls, including 19 of the 20 seats reserved for tribals.
- Congress president Rahul Gandhi visited the state on the last day of campaign. The party that had won 10 seats in the last assembly polls has seen several of its top state leaders join the BJP since the last year.
- While the BJP has given a call for change, the Left has attacked it for tying up with a party that wants a separate Tripuraland state comprising tribal-dominated areas of Tripura. The BJP has said it is against Tripura's bifurcation.
- The CPM has fielded candidates on 57 seats, leaving one each for its allies. The BJP is contesting 51 seats, leaving nine for the IPFT. Congress is going it alone.
- In the last assembly polls, Tripura saw a 91.82 per cent turnout. Results for today's polling will be declared on March 3.
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