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BJP wrests Boxanagar from CPI(M), retains Dhanpur in Tripura assembly bypolls
The BJP won the by-elections to the Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly seats in Tripura's Sepahijala district on Friday, according to the Election Commission.
Tripura bypoll result: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in both Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly constituencies in Tripura that went to polls earlier this week. The ruling BJP gained an early lead in both seats and kept increasing its vote margin in every round of counting, taking its tally in the Tripura assembly to 33.
Boxanagar bypoll results
After six rounds of counting, BJP's Tafajjal Hossain secured 34,146 votes while his nearest rival Mizan Hossain of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was a distant second with 3,909 votes. The two independent candidates – Md: Selim and Ratan Hosen – secured less than 200 votes, even less than NOTA's 434 votes.
The by-election to the Boxanagar constituency was necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque. The Boxanagar seat has 66 per cent minority voters of a total of 43,087 electors.
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Dhanpur bypoll results
In Dhanpur, BJP's Bindu Debnath defeated Kaushik Chanda of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) by 18,871 votes. While Debnath secured 30,017 votes after the final round of counting, the CPI(M) candidate received 11146 votes. The two independent candidates – Anil Reang and Bappi Debnath – received 544 and 426 votes, respectively.
Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik's resignation as MLA necessitated the by-election in the Dhanpur assembly seat. The Dhanpur constituency, once considered a stronghold of the Left, has over 8,000 tribal voters of the total 50,346 electors. The BJP won the seat for the first time in the assembly polls held seven months ago.
Alleging large-scale rigging during the polling and inaction by the Election Commission, the opposition CPI(M) boycotted the counting of votes. The polling for the by-elections was held on September 5. An average turnout of 86.50 per cent was recorded in the two seats.
