Voting begins peacefully for Tripura local self govt

Agartala, Sep 27 (UNI) Voting in all 337 polling booths for by-election to 135 seats in local self government in Tripura started peacefully today with an unprecedented security cover and about 20 per cent turn out was recorded so far.

About 1.76 Lakh voters would determine the fate of 310 candidates of seven different parties in two Zilla Parishad, eight Panchayat Samity, 94 Village Panchayats, 23 Village Committees and three seats of Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council, four Nagar Panchayats and one seat of Agartala Municipal Council in the by-elections.

State Election Commission officials said here that altogether 32 Left Front candidates were elected without contest in the by-elections. Besides, 1,600 polling staff about 7,000 security personnel, including Central Paramilitary forces and home guards, were deployed in the area to ensure free, fair and transparent polls.

Meanwhile, the state government declared a holiday today in the poll-bound areas of the state in view of the election and counting would be held on October 1.

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