Tripura records 89.8 percent voter turnout in Assembly polls, says Election Commission

New Delhi: An impressive 89.8 percent of the over 25.73 lakh electors came out to vote in Sunday’s Tripura Assembly elections, the Election Commission said on Monday. On Sunday, based on details made available by local poll authorities, the commission had put the figure at 76 percent. [caption id=“attachment_4351155” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] A spokesperson said on Monday that the “final figure” is 89.80 percent. In the last Assembly elections, the voter turnout was recorded at 91.82 percent, while in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it was 84.32 percent. The polling for 59 seats of the 60-member Assembly was held peacefully with thousands of central paramilitary forces fanning across the northeastern state. There were reports of malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at some polling stations which were rectified. Polling could not be held in Charilam constituency due to the death of CPM candidate Ramendra Narayan Deb Barma last week. The constituency will go to polls on 12 March. The BJP, hitherto an “also ran” in the border state, has emerged as the key challenger to the CPM-led Left Front, which has remained unvanquished in the last five Assembly elections. Manik Sarkar, one of the most enduring icons of the CPM, has led the state for the last four terms. The Congress, which has been marginalised in Tripura, was last in power between February 1988 and March 1993. It is contesting 59 seats and had not fielded a candidate for Kakrabon constituency. The BJP, which has been rapidly expanding its footprint in the northeast, with the party already in power in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, has forged an alliance with Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), an anti-Left party. The BJP has fielded candidates in 51 places, while its ally is contesting the remaining nine seats.