Tripura bypolls conclude peacefully with 83 percent voter turn out

The by-election which started at 7 AM this morning in Tripura’s Boxanagar and Dhanpur Assembly constituencies, concluded peacefully with 83 per cent voter turnout by 4 PM.

Boxanagar and Dhanpur Assembly constituencies are located in Tripura’s Sepahijala district.

Speaking with India Today NE, District Election Officer Dr Vishal Kumar said that the total turnout in the Boxanagar assembly constituency stands at 85.23 per cent while in Dhanpur the total voting turnout is recorded to be 81.56 per cent till 4 PM.

 Dr. Vishal Kumar who is also the District Magistrate of Sepahijala district said, “As of 1 pm, 60 per cent of the voting process has been successfully completed throughout the entire state. So far voting is completed in all the 110 polling stations and it is highly likely that the overall voter turnout will exceed the 85 percent mark. Despite the oppressive heat, polling stations appear to be relatively calm at the moment. However, during the morning hours, all polling stations experienced significant footfalls of voters."

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He further informed that an incident of poll violence was reported in the Taibandal area, a tribal belt of the Dhanpur assembly constituency where two persons received mild injuries during a ruckus between two groups.

Replying to a query regarding the EVMs and VVPATs, he said, “When the voting was started, we received four calls of technical snags related to EVMs and VVPATs. All those problems have been immediately solved to resume voting”, he added.

Reports of booth jamming emerged in the Taibandal area. Except for a few isolated incidents in specific sections of both constituencies, there have been no reports of widespread booth capturing or violence. To ensure law and order, 15 companies of Central Armed Forces have been deployed.