The counting of votes for the 60 assembly seats in Tripura began at 8 am on Thursday amid tight security arrangements for the February 16 elections. A senior election officer gave this information.
The state is witnessing a triangular contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) and the Left Front-Congress alliance and Tipra Motha, a new party floated by former royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma.
A total of 25,000 security personnel have been deployed in Tripura to maintain law and order. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) G. Kirankumar Dinkarrao said, “Prohibitory orders have been imposed in the entire state from 6 pm on March 1 to 6 am on March 3 under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to prevent any untoward incident, but essential services will be allowed.” And the examinees have been kept out of its purview.
Out of a total of 28.12 lakh voters, 89.98 per cent exercised their franchise in the polling held on February 16 in the state. He said, “The counting of votes is taking place at 21 places. There will be about five to eight rounds of counting. The trend is expected to emerge by afternoon.
Security personnel also conducted flag marches in various areas of Agartala. There are 259 candidates from different political parties in the fray. Chief minister Manik Saha is contesting from Town Bardovali constituency, while Union minister Pratima Bhowmik is contesting from Dhanpur constituency in Sipahijala district.
Jitendra Chowdhary, state secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), is contesting from the Sabroom seat. For the first time, the Left Front is contesting the assembly elections in alliance with its former arch-rival Congress.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP won 36 seats, while its ally IPFT won 18 seats. The CPI(M)-led Left Front won 16 seats, while the Congress did not get a single seat.
