Tripura polls peaceful, 80 pc turnout

Elections to the 60-member Tripura Assembly witnessed a massive turnout of voters — 79-80 per cent till 4 pm...

Elections to the 60-member Tripura Assembly witnessed a massive turnout of voters — 79-80 per cent till 4 pm — on Saturday. Voting held amid a record 60,000 security personnel was peaceful, something not seen in the past two decades.

“There hasn’t been a single untoward incident,” said GSG Ayyangar, chief electoral officer of the state, adding that booths would remain open till as late as 8 pm. “We expect it to go up beyond 85 per cent.”

While Chief Minister and Left Front leader Manik Sarkar claimed the peaceful voting to be his Government’s achievement, the Congress hailed the EC for having ensured that there was no rigging or booth-capturing.

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“The EC has done a remarkable job. Without it, there would not have been a peaceful election. Tripura has a history of booth-capturing and rigging by the Left Front. This time, the people have voted without fear and for a change,” said Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State in the PMO, who is overall state incharge of the Congress campaign.

The Left Front, however, complained that the EC’s “over-reaction” had prevented a large number of voters from exercising their franchise. “A large number of people could not cast votes,” said Left Front spokesman Gautam Das.

For the EC and for the entire country, this was a model election on several counts. While almost 99.99 per cent voters had electronic photo identity cards, the electoral rolls with polling officers in each booth, too, had photographs against each voter’s name. The EC also arranged for a Rs 2 lakh insurance cover for every person engaged in polling duty. Four helicopters were also pressed into service.

Counting of votes will take place on March 7.