Agartala, September 29: The Tripura State Election Commission on Tuesday announced an overall turnout of 81.21 per cent in the Village Committee elections held under the TTAADC, and ordered repolling in three seats on October 3 following reports of irregularities.
State Election Commissioner P K Chakravarti said repolling would be conducted in two Village Committees — Gamaria under Matabari RD Block and Paharpur under Amarpur RD Block.
The repoll has been ordered for seats 3 and 4 of constituency No. 2 in Gamaria Village Committee and seat No. 4 of constituency No. 4 in Paharpur Village Committee.
According to Chakravarti, reports of booth capturing and tampering with ballot boxes and ballot papers prompted the decision to order a repoll in Gamaria. In Paharpur, discrepancies in symbol allotment and printing-related issues were cited as the reasons.
The commissioner announced the decisions at a press conference at the Secretariat here.
The elections were held across 587 Village Committees, with 9,61,977 voters eligible to cast their ballots. As many as 1,644 candidates were declared elected unopposed after the completion of the nomination and withdrawal process.
Polling was held in the remaining 432 Village Committees across 44 RD blocks in the state. The exercise covered 1,768 constituencies and 2,956 seats, with 8,176 candidates in the fray.
A total of 6,58,247 voters were assigned to 1,095 polling stations, the commission said.
The poll panel also facilitated voting by election-duty officials, security personnel and others associated with the election process. A total of 6,628 election-duty votes were recorded.
Chakravarti said returning officers had reported a turnout of around 79 per cent after 4 pm on September 28. Nearly 10,850 voters were still waiting in queues at polling stations in 28 blocks and were issued slips by presiding officers.
After examining entries in the presiding officers’ diaries, the turnout was revised to 81.01 per cent. With election-duty votes included, the final figure stood at 81.21 per cent.
On the law-and-order situation, Chakravarti said polling was largely peaceful, although some isolated incidents were reported.
The commission received eight complaints from political parties, mostly concerning alleged obstruction of polling agents. Reports were sought from observers and returning officers, with some complaints disposed of after inquiry. Other cases remain under examination.
The commission also received a representation from Tipra Motha regarding firing at Warengbari SB School, where a party candidate and two others were injured. The matter was referred to police and the Home Department.
Repolling will begin at 7 am on October 3, while counting of votes is scheduled from 8 am on October 5 at designated centres in the 44 blocks.
