The Village Committee elections held on September 28 under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council recorded an overall voter turnout of 81.21 per cent, State Election Commissioner PK Chakraborty said on Tuesday evening.

Addressing a press conference at the Civil Secretariat in Agartala, Chakraborty announced that re-polling would be held on October 3 at Seat Nos. 3 and 4 of Gamaria Village Committee under Matabari RD Block and Seat No. 4 of Paharpur Village Committee under Amarpur RD Block.

A total of 9,61,977 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise across 587 Village Committees. Following the nomination and withdrawal process, 1,644 candidates were elected unopposed, including 81 from the BJP, 1,561 from Tipra Motha, one from the CPI(M) and one independent candidate.

Polling was held for the remaining 2,950 seats across 44 RD Blocks, with 8,176 candidates in the fray. Before polling began, 6,628 EDC votes were cast by election officials, security personnel and others engaged in election duties.

At 4 pm on polling day, the initial voter turnout was around 79 per cent, while 10,850 voters were still waiting in queues at various polling stations. Based on reports submitted by presiding officers, the turnout was subsequently calculated at 81.01 per cent. After adding the EDC votes, the final turnout stood at 81.21 per cent.

Chakraborty said the law-and-order situation remained largely normal across the state during the polling process.

The State Election Commission received eight complaints from different political parties, mostly concerning alleged obstruction of polling agents from performing their duties. Reports have been sought from observers and returning officers. While some complaints were disposed of after being found to have insufficient grounds, necessary action will be taken on the remaining complaints after the investigation reports are received.

The State Election Commissioner thanked voters for their cooperation and expressed gratitude to district election officials, returning officers, assistant returning officers, sector officers, presiding officers and polling officers for their efforts in conducting the elections.

He also thanked the Home Department, Tripura Police, Tripura State Rifles (TSR), Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Intelligence Bureau (IB), State Intelligence Branch (SB) and other security agencies for their cooperation in maintaining law and order during the elections.

State Election Commission Secretary Anurag Sen was also present at the press conference.