Agartala, Apr 12 (PTI) Around 83 per cent of the 9.62 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the elections to the 28-member Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District on Sunday, which witnessed a few stray incidents of violence, officials said.
Voting started at 7 am at 1,257 booths in all eight districts of the northeastern state, as 9,62,547 electors are eligible to decide the fate of 173 candidates from different political parties in the elections.
The TTAADC comprises two-thirds of the state’s geographical area and is home to a population of 13 lakh.
“Around 83 per cent voting was reported till 7 pm, and it may go up further because final reports are yet to be received,” State Election Commission (SEC) secretary Anurag Sen told PTI.
“No fatality or grievous injury was reported during the polling process because of the timely intervention of security forces,” said police spokesperson Rajdeep Deb.
The BJP and Tipra Motha Party (TMP) thanked the voters and polling officials for conducting the elections with a high turnout.
“The turnout has already reached over 80 per cent. It shows the voters joined the festival of democracy spontaneously. We are confident of winning the elections,” BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee said at a press conference.
He said, “Some sporadic incidents were reported to the party, and accordingly, we flagged these issues with the state poll panel for taking necessary steps.” TMP founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma also congratulated the voters for joining the voting process in large numbers.
“I am thankful to the people for the way they have showered love and affection on me during the election process. This election will mark the highest voting percentage because of high turnout so far,” he told the reporters.
The police spokesperson said, “Voting process has largely remained peaceful barring a few skirmishes between the BJP and Tipra Motha supporters till the last reports came in. DGP Anurag has been personally monitoring the security aspect to ensure peaceful elections.” He said a few crude bombs were thrown at Valuerchar, a polling booth under Mirza-Kathalia-Rajapur constituency in Sepahijala district but no one was injured there.
On the reports of house arrest of Tipra Motha candidate for Mirza-Kathalia-Rajapur, David Murasingh, he said it was an absolute rumour circulating on social media.
In the TTAADC, the TMP has 17 Members of District Council (MDCs), while the BJP has nine and two seats were vacant. PTI PS RG
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