In order to boost the “festival of democracy,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the people of Tripura to turn out in record numbers for the assembly elections today.In Tripura, voting for the 60-member Assembly got underway at 7 am on Thursday under heavy guard.Modi tweeted that he was “urging the people of Tripura to vote in record numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy.” He encouraged the youth to use their right to vote. Counting of votes for this assembly election will be done on March 2.Tripura Elections polling began at 7am this morning in 3,328 polling stations, including 1,100 sensitive areas and 28 critical areas. Security has been beefed up in these areas. In accordance with Election Commission data, over 28.14 lakh voters will cast their ballots. Out of which 14,15,233 are male votes and 13,99,289 are female votes and 62 are third genders, who will cast their vote today.Chief Minister Manik Saha is contesting the polls against Ashish Kumar Shaha of the Congress party from Borodowali. The result for the Tripura polls will be declared after counting on March 2.Both the BJP and its ally party have candidates contesting in the Ampinagar constituency, giving them a combined total of 55 seats to contest. The Left, which includes the CPM, Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India (CPI), and Revolutionary Socialist Party, is contesting 47 seats to Congresss 13. (RSP). 42 seats are up for election and TIPRARA Motha, led by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, is running.Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha after casting his vote today urged the voters of Tripura to vote in large numbers. The Tripura Chief Minister said, “BJP is confident of forming the government in the state.” He sent out a clear and strong message that BJP is likely to win a second consecutive term in Northeast states. “I prayed this morning for peaceful voting everywhere, and you can see how many people have turned out to vote,” he said after casting his vote. I am confident that the BJP will definitely form the government here in Tripura.”Polling in Tripura began at 7am in the morning and will continue till 4pm today.Assembly polls: Seats in 3 states of NEA total of 180 seats spread equally across three North-eastern states will go to the assembly elections, starting with BJP-governed Tripura on February 16 and followed by simultaneous polling on February 27 in Meghalaya and Nagaland, where the BJP is second in the pecking order of coalitions headed by regional giants. Counting of votes is scheduled for March 2. The stakes are high for the BJP as it aims to deepen its footprint in the region with a bold new approach of contesting more seats. The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for these states on January 18.In preparation for the assembly election, the governments of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland have declared a paid holiday on election day for all employees of the government, public sector enterprises, banks, financial institutions, private and all business establishments so that they may vote.Union Minister Amit Shah urges voters to voteAmit Shah also urged the people of Tripura to cast their vote. He said, “Ensure that a development- oriented government is formed and the era of peace and progress that has already started continues smoothly.”
