Agartala: The by-election in the Dharmanagar Assembly constituency of North Tripura, which commenced at 7 a.m. on Thursday, recorded a voter turnout of 33.50% till 11 a.m.
Authorities confirmed that the polling process has been smooth, with no incidents of EVM malfunction reported so far.
The by-election was necessitated following the demise of BJP MLA and Tripura Legislative Assembly Speaker Biswabandu Sen.
Chief Electoral Officer Brijesh Pandey stated that polling is progressing without any disruptions.
“The process is running smoothly, and we have not received any complaints regarding EVM issues,” he said.
Six candidates are in the fray for this seat: Jahar Chakraborty (BJP), Chayan Bhattacharya (Congress), Amitabh Datta (CPI(M)), Sanjay Chowdhury (SUCI), Independent candidate Brajalal Debnath, and Bibhas Ranjan Das (Amra Bangali).
A total of 46,183 voters are eligible to participate in the election, including 22,380 male voters, 23,763 female voters, and 924 newly registered voters.
To ensure smooth voting, 55 polling stations have been established across the constituency. Among these, 11 are designated as model polling stations, while another 11 are being operated entirely by women staff. Special “pink counters” have also been set up to support women polling personnel.
Security measures have been intensified, with personnel from CAPF, Tripura State Rifles, and Tripura Police deployed at each polling station. Additionally, Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs), along with teams from TSR and SDRF, have been kept on standby to handle any emergency situations.
