Tripura reported a voter turnout of 74 per cent till 4 pm, in elections to the State Assembly held on Sunday. The polling percentage is likely to go up further as more data comes in, Election Commission officials told reporters here. Counting of votes will take place on March 3.

Polling was held in 59 of the State’s 60 constituencies. Election was suspended at Charilam, where the death of one of the candidates resulted in polling being pushed to March 12.

VVPATs (voter-verified paper audit trails) were used in the State for the first time. There were 292 candidates in the fray, including 20 women. As many as 31,402 polling officials, more than 29,700 police personnel, including the CRPF, were deployed for the elections.

The BJP is the main challenger to the ruling Left Front, which has been in power for 25 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top BJP leaders like its National President Amit Shah, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari and Smriti Irani and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned in the State. The Prime Minister addressed four rallies. The Congress’ campaign saw party chief Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally on the last day of the campaign. Manik Sarkar, who is seeking a fifth term as chief minister, led the CPI(M)’s campaign.

The CPI(M) is contesting in 57 seats and while the other Left Front constituents, the RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI are contesting in one seat each. The BJP, which has forged an alliance with tribal outfit Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) has fielded 51 candidates.

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