Agartala, Feb16 (UNI): Over 32% voters exercised their choice in the first four hours in Tripura on Thursday amid reports of violence allegedly by “BJP goons”.
A CPI supporter was beaten up outside the Kalacherra polling station in the Shantirbaazar constituency of South Tripura district when he was on his way to the polling station. He has been hospitalised and a suo motu FIR lodged, police said.
CPI-M alleged that BJP cadres have been preventing the voters from reaching polling stations in Ramnagar and Khayerpur constituencies and security forces are not adequate. The central forces have been confined to the polling stations managing the booths while the state police and TSR personnel deployed on the road are beign mute spectators.
“The BJP cadres violated prohibitory orders in force under section 144 and assembled in large numbers despite the presence of the police and prevented the voters from voting by issuing direct threats. Moreover, in a few booths, they have been jamming the booths with the help of BLOs. The response of election machinery is very slow,” alleged CPI-M leader Ratan Das.
Police said except for some sporadic complaints of violence in Ramnagar and Khayerpur constituencies of Agartala from opposition parties, polling has been peaceful across the state, where a total electorate of around 28.13 lakh, including 13.98 lakh women and 77 third genders, is eligible to decide the fate of 259 candidates across 3,328 polling stations.
An Meghalaya Monitor source said “BJP goons are forcefully preventing agents and voters in some areas”.
“An average of 32.12% votes have been cast till 11 am,” an election official said. The highest turnout recorded so far is 38.52 percent in the Bardowali constituency of Agartala where Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha and Congress heavyweight Ashish Kumar Saha are pitted against each other.
Most of the polling stations in the city saw a high turnout of voters and long queues in front of the booths. The polling, which began at 7 am at a brisk pace, was slow initially in some polling stations where EVMs malfunctioned or the polling staff are on their maiden election duty. As many as 10 polling stations in the city are being managed by all women polling officials and women security personnel.
The ruling BJP is in the fray in 55 constituencies while its coalition partner Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) is contesting in six seats, as they could not arrive at an understanding in Ampinagar.
