Women outnumber men in Tripura Village Committee polls, turnout crosses 81 per cent

Women voters outnumbered men in the recently concluded Village Committee elections under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), with more than 2.70 lakh women exercising their franchise, State Election Commissioner P K Chakraborty said on October 6.

According to Chakraborty, 2,70,897 women voted in the September 28 elections, compared with 2,62,911 men.

South Tripura recorded the highest district-wise turnout at 86.08 per cent, while West Tripura registered the lowest at 72.64 per cent, he said.

On the final results, Chakraborty said the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) won 3,428 seats with a vote share of 46.76 per cent, while the BJP secured 859 seats with 28 per cent of the votes. The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) won 33 seats with a vote share of 2.74 per cent.

TMP secured a majority in 457 Village Committees, while the BJP emerged as the majority party in 94. The CPI(M) and IPFT secured a majority in two Village Committees each, while 31 committees were classified in the independent category, where no clear majority emerged or unaffiliated candidates dominated.

According to the SEC's final vote-share analysis, the CPI(M) secured 12.90 per cent, followed by Independents at 7.74 per cent and the Congress at 1.86 per cent.

In terms of seats, Independents won 173, CPI(M) 87 and Congress 14, while three seats remained vacant.

Chakraborty said counting began at 8 am on October 5 at 44 counting locations comprising 45 counting halls across 44 RD Blocks. Counting was completed at most centres by the evening, while the process at Manu RD Block continued into the early hours of October 6.

Elaborate security arrangements were made at all counting centres, with central security forces, Tripura Police and Tripura State Rifles deployed in a three-tier arrangement. No security-related incident or disruption was reported inside any counting hall, the SEC said.

The commission said minor tensions reported ahead of counting in Salema, Tulasikhar and Kathalia RD Blocks were brought under control through the intervention of police and the local administration.

On voter participation, Chakraborty said 5,33,808 voters cast their ballots at polling stations, while another 6,628 exercised their franchise through Election Duty Votes (EDV), taking the total votes polled to 5,40,436.

The overall voter turnout, including EDV, stood at 81.29 per cent, reflecting high participation in the Village Committee elections.