Agartala The crucial 2023 assembly elections cycle kicked off on Thursday with a high-turnout exercise in the northeastern state of Tripura, where a three-cornered contest is likely to be the most competitive affair in this round of polls.
Tripura chief electoral officer (CEO) Kiran Dinkarrao Gitte said 81.1% of the total 2.8 million voters exercised their franchise till 4pm, two percentage points more than the turnout (79%) in the 2018 assembly polls till this time of the day. The final turnout in 2018 was 89%, and the corresponding number for 2023 is likely to be released on Friday.
Gitte said that the voting percentage will rise further as long queues were seen outside stations at 4 pm. “All those inside the polling station at 4pm have been allowed to vote as per election commission instruction,” he added.
Sporadic clashes were reported but there were no reports of large-scale violence, unlike in 2018. “The polling was more or less peaceful across the state. We are looking into incident so violence. No political party has so far demanded repoll,” said Gitte. In 2018, close to 300 major incidents of poll violence was reported and there was repoll in around 100 polling booths.
Tripura is the first of at least nine states that go to the polls this year. Meghalaya and Nagaland will vote on February 27 and the results of all three states will be announced on March 2.
The almost continuous assembly elections season in 2023 – which will cover large swathes of central, northern and southern India, in addition to the North-East – will pave the way for the general elections in 2024 and set the momentum for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition.
In Tripura, where the BJP ended 25 years of Left rule in 2018, the electoral battle appears to be closer this time around. The BJP, which changed its chief minister last year, is banking on its governance record, welfare delivery, and the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is fighting an Opposition alliance of the Left and Congress and a new outfit, the Tipra Motha, which has focused on the 20 seats reserved for scheduled tribes and made the demand of a separate state for tribals its central campaign theme. The state has 60 assembly seats, of which the BJP holds 36.
Prohibitory orders were imposed across the state till 6am on February 17. “As many as 31,000 polling personnel and 25,000 security personnel of central forces, apart from 31,000 personnel of state police, were on guard to ensure the election is conducted in a free, fair and peaceful manner,” Gitte said.
Electronic voting machines malfunctioned in 40 to 45 places, and all the machines were replaced, he added. “There has been no report of booth jam or capturing this time,” he said.
Across 3,337 polling stations, the fates of 259 candidates were decided. Chief minister Manik Saha was among the first to cast his vote in Bordowali from where he is fighting against Congress leader Asish Kumar Saha. Former chief minister and Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Manik Sarkar cast his vote at Dhanpur.
People wearing traditional clothes could be seeing walking to polling stations till late in the evening. For the first time, around 14,000 Bru refugees were eligible to cast their votes in four districts.
Sarkar alleged violence in Dhanpur and said polling agents were not allowed to enter stations. His Party also accused the BJP of stoking violence in three areas, a charge echoed by its ally, the Congress.
The BJP dismissed the allegations. “Our people were attacked in Dhanpur. They (CPI-M) only knows how to blame the ruling party,” BJP leader Papiya Dutta said.
All parties expressed confidence. “I am 100% confident that the BJP will secure absolute majority in the elections. We will get more seats than last time,” said Saha.
“People had come out in large numbers to form a new government to restore peace and democracy,” Sarkar said.
Tipra Motha chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma said he will never betray his people. “I appeal to people not to allow others to cast your votes. We will win 32 of the 42 seats we contested,” he added.
The BJP is contesting 55 seats and its ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura ( IPFT) has fielded candidates in six seats. The Left and the Congress are contesting in 47 and 13 seats respectively as per a seat-sharing adjustment. The Tipra Motha is contesting 42 seats, and the Trinamool Congress 28.
“People exercised their franchise in most of the areas this time and there were no reports of violence. This is something new,” said political expert Swapan Bhattacharjee.