High-voltage campaign for Tripura bypolls ends

The votes will be counted on June 26.Agartala and Town Bardowali seats are going to the polls as the incumbent BJP MLAs, Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Saha, joined the Congress after resigning from the assembly.

The high-voltage campaign for the bypoll to the four assembly seats in Tripura came to an end on Tuesday.

The by-elections will be held in Agartala, Town Bardowali, Jubarajnagar and Surma on June 23.

''All possible steps have been taken to ensure a free and fair election. Prohibitory orders have been imposed in the constituencies where the by-elections are being held to maintain law and order,'' District Magistrate, West, Debapriya Bardhan said.

Barring an attack on Congress's Agartala candidate Sudip Roy Barman on June 19, the campaign largely remained peaceful. After being discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, he took part in a roadshow. Roy Barman, a former minister in the state government, appealed to the people to exercise their democratic rights by defying all ''threats and intimidation''. Asish Saha, the Congress candidate of Town Bardowali, was also present in the roadshow.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, who is fighting the bypolls from the Town Bardowali seat, and former CM Biplab Kumar Deb led the BJP's roadshow in Agartala.

The CPI(M) organised a bike rally in favour of its candidates Krishna Majumder (Agartala) and Raghunath Sarkar (Town Bardowali).

TMC, which has fielded candidates in all the four seats, also took out a colourful roadshow in the state capital.

Altogether 22 candidates are in the fray for the bypolls. A total of 1,88,854 people in the four constituencies are eligible to vote. The votes will be counted on June 26.

Agartala and Town Bardowali seats are going to the polls as the incumbent BJP MLAs, Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Saha, joined the Congress after resigning from the assembly. The Surma seat fell vacant after BJP MLA Asish Das rebelled against the party, and was subsequently disqualified.

The bypoll to Jubarajnagar was necessitated as CPI(M) MLA Ramendra Chandra Debnath died.

The administration has declared ''dry days'' in Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) area from June 21 to 23 and June 26 due to the elections.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)