Agartala: Amid stray incidence of violence, at least 77% voter turnout was recorded in Tripura which is witnessing bypolls to four assembly seats–Agartala, Town Bardowali, Surma and Jubarajnagar seats.
While Agartala saw 54.20 per cent of the voters exercising their franchise till 1 pm, Surma and Jubarjnagar in Tripura recorded 53.50 per cent and 46.56 per cent respectively.
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In Tripura, Chief Minister Manik Saha is among the prominent candidates contesting the bypolls.
Tripura witnessed an incident of violence with an off-duty police constable, identified as Samir Saha being stabbed in the stomach while he was going with his family to exercise his franchise in Kunjaban area in Agartala constituency, police said.
He said the attackers attempted to prevent Saha and his family members from casting their vote.
Constable Saha, who is attached to Gandacherra Police Station in Dhalai district, has been admitted to a hospital and his condition is stated to be stable, said a police official.
On Wednesday night, unidentified people attacked the residence of Trinamool candidate for Surma seat, Arjun Namasudra, in Bamancherra in Dhalai district.
“The candidate is unhurt but his vehicle was vandalised,” Dhalai SP Ramesh Yadav.
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Trinamool state president Subal Bhowmik alleged that BJP-backed goons had attacked Namasudra’s house and also tried to beat up a polling agent. However, Saha rubbished the allegations as baseless.
“They have been making one accusation after another. Democracy has been strengthened in Tripura with the administration and ECI discharging their duties properly,” he said.
“I am 100 per cent 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,” he told reporters after casting his vote.
The bypolls in Agartala and Town Bardowali were necessitated after Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Saha quit as BJP MLAs and joined the Congress in February.
The Surma seat in Dhalai district fell vacant after BJP legislator, Asish Das, was disqualified by Speaker Ratan Chakraborty and bypoll to Jubarajnagar was necessitated following the death to sitting CPI (M) MLA Ramendra Chandra Debnath.