Tripura Assembly election results Live Updates: BJP leading with 42, Left Front with 16

The counting will begin on Saturday for the voting held on February 18 for 59 Tripura assembly constituencies. The election in Charilam constituency was postponed to March 12 after the death of Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI-M] candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma.

The tenure of 60-seat Tripura Legislative Assembly ends on March 6, 2018. The much-awaited counting in this north-eastern state will decide the electoral fortunes of 292 candidates, including 23 women. The BJP, which fielded candidates on 51 seats, fought the elections with an alliance with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) that fielded nine candidates.

Apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, many senior BJP leaders vigorously campaigned in Tripura. While the CPIM-M fielded 57 candidates; the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) fielded one candidate each.

The Congress Party fought elections on 59 seats, while the All India Trinamool Congress on 24 seats. While the political parties in Tripura are keeping their fingers crossed, exit polls have given mixed predictions. Some have said the BJP will dethrone the Left Front led by Manik Sarkar, which has governed Tripura since the 1998 election. However, the real picture will emerge after the counting ends on Saturday.