Heavy voter turnout in Tripura Assembly polls

New Delhi: The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front is looking for a fourth consecutive term, and is locked in a direct fight with the Congress party and its ally the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) in the Tripura Assembly elections.

Polling is still on in many booths and will continue till 2100 hrs IST.

According to the Election Commission figures nearly 81 per cent of the electorate had cast their votes by 1730 hrs IST.

In urban areas, Khayerpur has registered the highest turnout. There has been no report of any poll-related violence, barring the kidnapping of a Left Front leader in Raimavelly of Dhalai district on Friday night.

In big set-back for the CPI-M, the Forward Bloc, one of the Left Front constituents and a former ally, is contending on its own strength in these elections after disagreements over seat-sharing with the party.

The 2003 elections had seen the Left Front winning 41 seats out of 60, with the Congress-INPT combine bagging the remaining 19.

The Left Front has been ruling Tripura since 1978 barring just one term.

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