The elections for the Village Committee (VC) of Autonomous District Council (ADC) by and large peaceful and fare and polling continued beyond 4 PM at several polling stations in Tripura’s on Monday, with nearly 8,000 voters issued slips to enable them to cast their votes despite the scheduled polling time having ended.
Addressing a press conference on Monday evening, State Election Commissioner (SEC) Pk Chakraborty said that around 79 per cent voter turnout had been recorded by 4 PM. As voters were still waiting in queues at several polling stations after 4 PM, arrangements were made to issue slips to those eligible voters. He said the voters, who were present at various blocks and police stations, were continuing to exercise their franchise.
The final voter turnout will become clear only after polling is completed, he said, adding that 8,176 candidates were in the fray in the elections.
Regarding the law-and-order situation, Chakraborty said polling was conducted in an overall peaceful and orderly manner and that no major untoward incident was reported. However, an incident occurred outside a police station near Warengbari SB School under Matabari Block in Gomati district, in which one person sustained serious injuries while another accompanying him suffered minor injuries. Both were shifted to Gomati District Hospital in the presence of the District Election Officer and Superintendent of Police.
The State Election Commissioner also said that five complaints had been received so far concerning areas including Srimantapur Village Committee, Panbua Village Committee, Binagar-Katiyata, Teliamura, Kalyanpur and Paharpur. He said the complaints were related to political issues and that reports had been sought from the concerned District Election Officers and Returning Officers. Further decisions would be taken after the reports are received.
Meanwhile, ballot boxes and other election materials have started arriving at receiving centres from different polling stations. The overall picture of the election will become clearer after representatives of the respective parties submit ballot boxes, ballot-paper accounts and other statutory and non-statutory forms. The ballot boxes will subsequently be secured in strong rooms.
Chakraborty also said that no confirmed information regarding arrests in connection with the Matabari incident had been received so far.
He also expressed gratitude towards the voters of the state and personnel connected with the election process for peaceful , free and fair elections.