E-Paper
Tripura bypolls: 51.77% voter turnout in 4 Assembly segments till 1pm
Tripura deputy chief minister Jishnu Devvarma said that the bypolls are going on peacefully in four Assembly segments barring a few stray incidents
51.77% votes were cast in Tripura’s bypolls in four Assembly constituencies on Thursday till 1.30pm, officials said.
The polling in four constituencies, Agartala, Town Bordowali, Surma and Yubrajnagar began at 7am.
A total of 22 candidates from seven political parties apart from independent candidates are in the fray.
Among the seats that are going to by-polls, six candidates are in the fray in each of Agartala and Town Bordowali assembly constituencies while five candidates are in the fray in each of Surma and Jubarajnagar assembly segments.
Both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged violence triggered by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-backed miscreants during the polling. One cop was stabbed by some unknown miscreants after he went out to cast his vote at Kunjaban area under the Agartala constituency. He is currently under treatment at Govind Ballabh Pant (GBP) Hospital. A local media person, Subham Debnath, alleged that he was assaulted by the miscreants while he was covering obstruction of the voters in turning up at the polling stations.
Congress candidate and former BJP legislator Sudip Roy Barman alleged violence in his home turf, Agartala constituency, by BJP-backed cadres. “The government believes in anti-social elements and goonda. These hooligans threw out polling agents at 8-10 places. The voters who came to the polling stations were terrorised, many were assaulted. The Election Commission has turned into a mockery. Still, I am confident of the people’s mandate in my favour,” said Roy Barman.
Reacting to the allegation, deputy chief minister Jishnu Devvarma said that the polls are going on peacefully barring a few stray incidents.
Devvarma cast his vote at Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy Smriti Vidyamandir in Agartala constituency.
“The turnout of voters shows that people are casting their votes without any fear. A few stray incidents occurred and these incidents occur always,” said Devvarma.
A total of 25 companies of central security forces were deployed to maintain law and order situation in the polling stations and outside in the general areas under the constituencies going to by-polls. According to the threat perception analysis, 148 polling stations were categorised ‘normal’, 59 were marked ‘vulnerable’ and 10 were marked ‘critical and vulnerable’.
