The BJP has taken early leads in the counting of votes for Assembly elections in Tripura
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken early leads in the counting of votes for Assembly elections in Tripura. As per early trends, the BJP has taken lead on 24 seats and the ruling CPI(M) is ahead in 21 constituencies.
The Congress is ahead on one seat.
Though the strength of each assembly is 60, voting was held for 59 constituencies on February 18. The election in Charilam constituency was postponed to March 12 after the death of Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma.
Another candidate Khagendra Jamatia passed away yesterday, a day before the verdict of Tripura assembly polls. Jamatia was the Fisheries and Cooperation minister in Manik Sarkar government.
The tenure of 60-seat Tripura Legislative Assembly ends on March 6, 2018. The results will decide the electoral fortunes of 292 candidates, including 23 women.
While the CPIM-M fielded 57 candidates; the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) fielded one candidate each.
The Congress Party fought elections on 59 seats, while the All India Trinamool Congress on 24 seats.
While the political parties in Tripura are keeping their fingers crossed, exit polls have given mixed predictions. Some have said the BJP will dethrone the Left Front led by Manik Sarkar, which has governed Tripura since 1998 election.
An exit poll by NewsX TV channel gave the BJP alliance 35-45 seats and said the Left Front would bag 14-23 seats while one seat would be won by others.
The Centre for Voting Opinion & Trends in Election Research (CVoter) predicted a close fight between the BJP and the Left. It said the Left would win 26-34 seats with 44.3 percent vote share.
(With ANI inputs)
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