Bypolls for 4 Assembly Seats Concludes in Tripura; 76.62% Turnout Till 5 pm

An off-duty police official was stabbed with a sharp object while he was visiting a polling booth in Agartala.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha poses for a photograph after casting his vote at a polling station.

(Photo: PTI)

The bypolls for four Assembly seats in Tripura concluded on Thursday, 23 June with an aggregate voter turnout of 76.62 percent recorded till 5 pm in the state. Votes will be counted on 26 June.

The seats that were being contested include Agartala, Town Bardowali, Jubarajnagar, and Surma.

Agartala recorded a voter turnout of 76.72 percent, Town Bordowali – 69.54 percent, Surma – 80 percent, and Jubarajnagar – 80.41 percent.

The bypolls in Agartala and Town Bardowali were necessitated since Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Saha resigned as MLAs of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the Congress earlier this year.

Surma, on the other hand, went to the polls after the BJP's Ashish Das was disqualified by Assembly Speaker Ratan Chakraborty. The Jubarajnagar seat fell vacant due to the death of Ramendra Chandra Debnath, the sitting MLA of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

The Left and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress have fielded candidates in all four Assembly seats.

People wait in queues at a polling station to cast their votes for Assembly by-elections in Agartala on Thursday, 23 June.

(Photo: PTI)

A Reang tribal woman shows her finger marked with indelible ink after casting her vote during Assembly bypolls, at Aanndabazar in North Tripura district on Thursday.

(Photo: PTI)

Voters stand in line to cast their votes for the Assembly by-elections.

(Photo: PTI)

Police Official Stabbed While Going to Cast His Vote

An off-duty police official named Samir Saha was stabbed with a sharp object while he was visiting a polling booth in Agartala, an official said, adding that the miscreants were trying to stop him from casting his vote.

Saha was immediately taken to the hospital, where his condition is said to be stable, PTI reported.

On Wednesday, the home of TMC candidate from Surma, Arjun Namasudra, in the Dhalai district, was attacked by unidentified miscreants.

"The candidate is unhurt, but his vehicle was vandalised by miscreants," Dhalai Superintendent of Police Ramesh Yadav was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

CM Saha Casts Vote

Chief Minister Manik Saha cast his vote at Town Bardowali, where he was himself contesting.

After casting his vote, Saha said that he was confident that the BJP would win all four seats.

"I am 100 percent sure that BJP will win all the four seats based on the good work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and my predecessor Biplab Kumar Deb for the welfare of the people," the CM said while addressing reporters.

These bypolls assume much significance as they are taking place a few weeks after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) changed its chief minister from Biplab Deb to Manik Saha.

Assembly elections in the state are barely eight months away. Hence, the results of the bypolls will test the BJP’s organisational strength and its ability to counter rising anti-incumbency.

(With inputs from PTI.)