Voting across 60 constituencies in Tripura concluded on February 16, drawing the polls to a close in a triangular contest. The Election Commission of India pegged the provisional turnout at nearly 80 percent voter turnout till 7 pm.
The north-eastern state saw a high voltage battle for the 60-member House for which voting began at 7 am and continued till 4 pm across 3,337 polling stations.
The poll-bound state had 28.13 lakh registered voters to determine the fate of 259 contesting candidates. Tripura saw a three-cornered fight with the BJP-IPFT coalition seeking to retain supremacy and the Left-Congress combine aiming to wrest power, while regional outfit Tipra Motha made its debut at the hustings after a stunning performance in the autonomous council polls two years ago.
As per ECI, meticulous planning, exhaustive reviews, immense presence of Central Armed Police (CAPF) personnel helped in ensuring largely violence-free and fair elections to Tripura Assembly.
“As against 168 repolls in the state in 2019 general elections to Lok Sabha, today’s polls in 60 assembly constituencies in Tripura have been largely peaceful with no repoll reported so far. Minor instances of violence so reported were promptly looked into by local teams,” said EC.
The poll-body also informed that strict vigil at interstate and international borders by enforcement agencies of adjoining states also helped to curb movement of inducements and sealing of borders during the poll period.
“Twenty-five- fold increase in seizures amounting to Rs 44.67 crore has been recorded this time as compared to previous assembly elections in 2018 where it was Rs 1.79 crore,” EC added.
As part of the Commission's initiative to provide a comfortable experience to women voters, 97 all-women managed polling stations were set up which had all women polling staff including women security personnel.
The Commission for the first time also provided home voting facility for octogenarian and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) voters.
