Shillong, September 8: In the ongoing voting on Friday, BJP candidates in Tripura’s Dhanpur and Boxanagar Assembly constituencies have established substantial leads over their CPI(M) rivals. This is occurring while stringent security measures are in place.
As per IANS, election authorities have reported that in Boxanagar, BJP’s Taffajal Hossain is ahead by 13,643 votes compared to his CPI(M) rival Mizan Hossain. In Dhanpur, Bindu Debnath, the BJP nominee, is leading by 4,065 votes over his Left counterpart Kaushik Chanda.
Boxanagar has completed two rounds of vote counting, and Dhanpur has finished one round. Each constituency is scheduled for six rounds of vote counting.
Poll officials have stated that following the completion of counting postal ballots, the tally of votes stored in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) has commenced.
The counting process for the by-elections, which took place on Tuesday, started early Friday morning with extensive three-tier security arrangements in place.
Voter turnout reached 86.56 percent, with 93,495 eligible voters casting their votes.
Vote counting is currently taking place at two centers located in the Sonamura Girls’ Higher Secondary School in Sepahijala district, with robust security measures in effect.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front has chosen to boycott the counting, alleging widespread intimidation, rigging, and irregularities by members and workers of the ruling BJP on the polling day. They also criticize the Election Commission’s perceived inaction in addressing these concerns.
The by-election for the Dhanpur seat was necessitated by the resignation of Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik from the Assembly, shortly after her election as a BJP nominee.
The Boxanagar Assembly seat, with a Muslim-majority population, became vacant following the passing of sitting CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque, who died on July 19 due to a cardiac attack.