Tripura sets national record with 93 per cent voting turnout in assembly elections

15 February, 2013

The North Eastern state of India Tripura has registered a national record in its 60-member assembly elections, with a huge 93% final voting turnout figure. With a total electorate of 23,58,493 voters, this is the highest-ever voting turnout in the country so far. The single phased elections were completely peaceful.

In the 2008 assembly elections the state had registered 91.22% voting turnout, which was again a highest in the country. The polling in the state started at 7 am in the morning and continued till 8 pm when the last vote was caste. "Though the polling percentage is still being compiled as the last vote was cast after 8 PM, preliminary data indicates that Tripura has recorded the highest ever percentage of 93 per cent," Chief Electoral Officer Ashutosh Jindal, reported the Zee New website.

Election Commission's headquarter in Delhi said that the highest voting of 99 per cent was recorded in a polling booth at Chanman JB School under Radha Kishorpur assembly constituency in Gomati district, where 600 of the 605 voters cast their votes. Election Commission has deployed a total of 30 general observers, 10 expenditure observers, eight awareness observers and eight police observers to ensure smooth and fair elections in the state.

The state is presently ruled by the Left Front, which is hopeful that it will register a thumping victory for the record fifth time in a row. The main fight is between Left front and the Congress. In 2008 elections CPI(M) had won 46 seats and CPI got one while the Congress bagged 10 seats. Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) had got one seat and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) bagged two seats.

To increase the poll percentage of employees on poll duty, the Election Commission had made special arrangement for recording postal ballot at the polling stations itself. The provision of postal ballot helped in recording 95.6 percent polling through postal ballot of employees on poll duty. There were 46,000 employees on poll duty.

CPI-M, the dominant partner in the Left Front, contested 55 seats, RSP two and CPI two and Forward Bloc one. The main opposition party Congress contested 48 seats and its alliance partners INPT in 11 and National Conference of Tripura in one.