Guwahati: Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma unexpectedly lost his seat in the Charilam-19 constituency to Tipra Motha by 800 votes. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Manik Saha won the vital 8 Town Bordowali Assembly seat, scoring a significant victory for his party in one of the most closely watched contests of the election. The official announcement of Jishnu Dev Varma’s defeat is still pending.
The victory is seen as a major boost for the ruling party because the Town Bordowali constituency is one of the most crucial battlegrounds among Tripura’s 60 assembly constituencies. In 2022, after a number of seats became vacant as a result of incumbent MLAs’ resignations, by-elections were held.
While the party suffered a blow by losing the seat of the Deputy Chief Minister, Chief Minister Saha’s victory is anticipated to give the ruling party a much-needed boost.
The election of the Chief Minister is viewed as a significant vote of confidence in his leadership and policies, notably his emphasis on enhancing the state’s infrastructure and economy. The victory is anticipated to boost Saha’s mandate and assist him in implementing important reforms and projects. Saha has vowed to continue his efforts to generate jobs and draw investment to the state.
On the other hand, the loss of the Deputy Chief Minister is interpreted as an indication of rising unhappiness with the ruling party and its policies. The party’s morale is expected to suffer as a result of Varma’s defeat because he was a crucial member.
Today at eight in the morning, the counting of ballots for the assembly elections in Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Tripura began. Meghalaya and Nagaland each had 52 seats up for election, totaling 352 candidates.
259 candidates competed in Tripura’s multi-cornered election to fill 60 seats.
The general election for Tripura Assembly elections took place on February 16 last where 28,14,584 electorates comprising 14,15,233 male and 13,99,289 female voters have been destined to exercise their franchise. Yet on election day, 24,66,511 electorates—12,18,764 male and 12,47,705 female voters—executed their democratic right at 3,327 polling places around the state.
There were approximately 259 candidates running in this election, representing several political parties. There included 55 BJP nominees, 47 Left Front nominees, one independent nominee, 42 TIPRA Motha nominees, 28 TMC nominees, and 13 Congress nominees. In addition, there are candidates from one seat each from the CPIML, TSP, and RSP parties. There were seven candidates running from unofficial political parties.
Overall, 3,337 voting places were located throughout the state. There were 44 polling places staffed by persons with disabilities (PwDs), 88 model polling places, 33 polling places staffed by young people, and 97 polling places staffed by women.