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North East: Tripura Assembly polls : Over 80 pc turnout recorded |
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Over 80 per cent of the electorate in the Left-ruled north-eastern state of Tripura exercised their franchise on Feb. 23 to elect a new 60-Member state Assembly. But for a few minor incid¬ents, polling throughout the state was largely peaceful.
The ruling CPI(M), which went to the polls for the first time without its ally Forward Bloc, has expressed confidence about returning to power for the fourth consecutive term.
Though a total of 313 candidates were in the fray, tradi¬tional rivals - the Left Front and the Congress-INPT combine - hold the key to the outcome. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was locked in a multicornered contest at Dhanpur in West district’s Sonamura sub-division while TPCC chief Samir Ranjan Burman contested from Bishalgarh to retain his seat.
Vijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl, chief of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura is contesting the Kulai Assembly constituency where Sabitri Devbarma of the CPI(M) has emerged as a formidable opponent.
“The polling is complete sans violence. The people have exercised their franchise spontaneously in almost all the booths in state’s four districts,” a senior electoral official said.
With a large presence of tribal voters, polling centres in many of Tripura’s hill townships wore a festive look. The Manip¬uri women, in their traditional colourful dresses, came to the polling centres at Bamutiya and nearby areas on the outskirts of Agartala.
Paramilitary forces staged flag marches in the interior hill regions for boosting the confidence of the electorate in the wake of a “poll boycott” call issued by the Borak national commandos of Tripura, a fringe group of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura.
The Centre earlier deployed an additional 200 companies of the paramilitary forces to ensure a free and peaceful polling in the State. This is the first time in Tripura that AVM sets were used in an election.
Meanwhile, electioneering is in full swing in Meghalaya and Nagaland, where polling takes places on March 3 and 5 respectively. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Presi¬dent Sonia Gandhi are slated to join the campaigning this week.
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