LIVE: In Tripura, BJP Takes Early Lead But Cong's Sudip Barman Says Result Will Surprise Everyone; CM Saha Visits Temple

BJP is leading in 21 seats, as the initial round of counting of votes in Tripura elections is underway. The Left-Congress alliance is leading in 16 seats while Tipra Motha is leading in eight seats.

Papiya Dutta, BJP’s candidate BJP from Agartala, which is the seat of Congress strongman Sudip Roy Barman, said this time there will be change in Agartala. “I will defeat Sudip Roy Barman. No one is heavyweight, workers are heavyweight.”

Counting of votes is taking place at 21 locations, for as many as 259 candidates of different political parties. “There will be around five to eight rounds of counting. The trends are expected to be clear around noon,” the Chief Electoral Officer said.

A total of 89.98 per cent of 28.12 lakh voters exercised their franchise during polling for the Tripura assembly elections on February 16.

As counting begins, the BJP is leading in 12 seats, the Congress-Left alliance in nine while Tipra Motha is leading in 8 seats so far.

Congress strongman Sudip Roy Barman said, “You people will be taken aback…we are super confident that Congress-Left will come into power.” Barman, is a six-time MLA from Agartala who joined the BJP in 2018 but returned to the Congress soon after. Till now, he has never been defeated.

“We performed puja at the party office today and took blessings of Mata Tripureshwari. BJP will return to power in Tripura. We will get a majority,” said Tripura BJP president Rajib Bhattacharjee.

Counting of votes for the Tripura assembly elections began at 8 am on Thursday. Elections to the 60 assembly constituencies in the state were held on February 16, with around 89.98 per cent of voters exercising their franchise.

Ahead of the counting of votes, CM Manik Saha visited Matabari to seek blessings.

The state BJP performed a puja at the party office ahead of counting, said Tripura BJP president Rajib Bhattacharjee.

Exit polls have given BJP a clean sweep in Tripura. According to Axis My India, the BJP alliance could win 36-45 of the 60 seats, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) alliance 6-11 and the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) 9-16.

Matrize, meanwhile, has predicted 29-36 seats for BJP+, 13-21 for CPM+, 11-16 for TMP and three for others. Jan Ki Baat has predicted 29-40 seats for BJP+, 9-16 for CPM+, 10-14 for TMP and one for others. ETG has predicted 24 seats for BJP+, 21 for CPM+, 14 for TMP and one for others.

Among the top contenders in Tripura are Dr Manik Saha, the chief minister, who is contesting from Town Bordowali. A Congressman, Saha joined BJP in 2016 and was made the party’s state president in 2021. Saha, who became a Rajya Sabha MP last year, replaced Biplab Deb who was asked to resign from the chief minister’s post last year.

“The counting process will commence at 8 am amid tight security. There will be around five to eight rounds of counting. The trends are expected to be clear by noon,” the election official told PTI on Wednesday.

Counting of votes will begin at 8 am.

Manik Saha is a candidate from the Town Bordowali seat, which is in Agartala. He won the bypoll last year by 6,000 votes and became CM.

Meanwhile, the Agartala seat has been won by Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman for the past six terms.

The BJP has transformed one part of its war room as the results corner. Sources said the party has organised a special puja in the election office on Thursday morning. Tripura chief minister Manik Saha is confident about the saffron party’s win. “You have seen the exit polls, which have predicted that we (the BJP) are forming the government; we will get more seats this time and we are confident,” he said.

Continuous meetings were held both in the CPI(M) and Congress camps. Party leaders sat with polling agents. The chief ministerial candidate, Jitendra Choudhury, told News18, “We are confident that change will take place, you will see numbers tomorrow.” Congress strongman Sudip Roy Barman was also holding back-to-back meetings. He contested from Agartala, from where he is a six-time MLA.

Counting of votes for the 60-member Tripura Assembly will begin at 8 am.

The markets in Tripura are already selling colours and firecrackers with one week still left for Holi. Political parties are buying their own party colours but Biru Barman, a shopkeeper, said there was more demand for red.

“Both camps are buying colours but people are buying more red from my shop. Let’s see which colour comes to power,” he said.