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Tripura Polls 2018: Over 25 lakh voters to decide fate of 292 candidates
As Tripura goes to vote on Sunday, all eyes are riveted on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left Front. The voting will continue till 4 pm.
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The voter turnout recorded till 9 pm is 78.56 per cent. The polling is still underway at few polling stations. The voting slips were distributed till 4 pm and those voters are at the booths: Election Commission
76 per cent voter turnout in 41 constituencies.
65 per cent voter turnout has been recorded till 3:00 PM.
Over 23% voter turnout recorded till 11 am, reports ANI
Incumbent Chief Minister Manik Sarkar casts his vote.
Voting will end at 4 pm in all the 3,214 polling stations in the state, election office sources said.
"These election results will be historic, we will definitely win," says BJP Tripura President Biplab Kumar Deb
Visuals from polling booth number 6/20 in Agartala's Bhati Abhay Nagar where BJP candidate Sudip Roy Barman is the sitting MLA.
"Apprehending troubles by some tribal outfit, a record 50,000 para-military and other state security personnel have been deployed while two air surveillance team led by senior officials are conducting surveillance by helicopters," the election official.
In all, 2,536,589 people, including 1,250,128 women and 47,803 first-time voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 292 candidates, including 23 women and many independents.
"Men and women in large numbers queued up in front of many polling stations well before polling opened at 7 a.m. in the entire state. Polling ends at 4 p.m.," said Sriram Taranikanti, the Chief Electoral Officer.
"I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Tripura, particularly young voters, to turnout in record numbers and cast their vote in the Assembly Elections," tweets PM Modi.
Early morning visuals from Udaipur
Early morning visuals outside polling booth in Udaipur, Tripura
Several people had queued outside few polling booths early in the morning.
Voting began in 59 out of the total 60 seats in Tripura
Apart from CPI(M) and BJP, other major tribal parties in Tripura are: the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and National Conference of Tripura (NCT).
The CPI-M has been in power in Tripura for the past 25 years, with incumbent Chief Minister Manik Sarkar at the helm for the past 19 years.
The CPI(M) has approached the Chief Election Commission over this
The statement read: "The CEC said he will ask for a written report on the circumstances in which the special observer met the BJP president of Tripura."
The CPI(M) has dubbed the move as "unusual". The party also objected to his closed-door meeting with the state BJP president.
The Election Commission has appointed ITBP Director General R K Pachnanda the special observer for the election in Tripura.
The campaigning for the Tripura Assembly elections concluded on February 16.The BJP and the Congress are looking to root out the CPI (M), which has been ruling the state for the past 25 years.
The voting for Tripura Assembly elections is currently underway in 59 seats. The polling, which began at 7 am, will continue till 4 pm.
All eyes are riveted on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left Front.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has been at the helm for the last 25 years. As the Manik Sarkar-led government looks to secure another term in the state, BJP is confident of spreading its wing to the 20th state in the country.
The Election Commission has appointed ITBP Director General R K Pachnanda the special observer for the election in Tripura.