Polling underway in Charilam Assembly seat in Tripura

Agartala: Polling is underway in the Charilam (ST) Assembly constituency in Tripura, which was postponed due to the death of the CPI(M) candidate a week before the February 18 election. Newly-appointed Deputy Chief Minister and state BJP vice-president Jishnu Deb Burman is contesting from the seat.

He is pitted against Arjun Debbarma of the Congress, Uma Shankar Debbarma of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and Independent contestant Jyotilal Debbarma. Additional Chief electoral Officer Tapas Ray said, 35.45 per cent of votes were cast till 11 am and no untoward incident was reported.

After the death of Ramendra Narayan Debbarma on February 11, the CPI(M) had fielded Palash Debbarma from the seat. However, on Friday, the party withdrew his candidature alleging large-scale post-poll violence in the constituency.

Overthrowing the 25-year-long CPI(M)-led Left Front government, the BJP and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) combine swept to power in the state winning 43 out of the 59 seats for which elections were held. The BJP had won 35 and IPFT eight seats. The CPI(M) got 16 seats.

IG (Law and Order) K V Sreejesh told reporters that adequate security personnel were deployed in the constituency. Counting would be held on March 15. The deputy chief minister, a member of Tripura’s royal family, was sworn in by Governor Tathagata Roy on March 9, along with Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and others. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present on the occasion. Election in 59 seats for the 60-member Assembly was held on February 18.