Counting of Panchayat Polls Begin in Tripura

The counting of votes of three-tier panchayat elections in Tripura hasbegun on Wednesday and the opposition parties including Congress and CPI (M)said that they apprehend the result would not reflect true public mandate as alarge number of voters were allegedly not allowed to cast votes.

The three-tier panchayat polls were announced in 6,111 seats of 591 Gram Panchayats, 419 seats of Panchayat Samities and 116 seats in eight Zilla Parishad bodies of Tripura. However, the actual polls would be held in 833 seats of Gram Panchayats, 82 seats of Panchayat Samiti and 79 seats of Zilla Parishad bodies as the others went uncontested.

According to latest reports, 76.63 percent voter turnout was recorded inthe seats that underwent polling.

Moreover, Bijan Dhar, Tripura Left Front Convener alleged that communistparty supporters were barred from voting in many places and polling booths werecaptured in many booths of South Tripura and Gomati districts. He also saidthat polling agents were not allowed to join their duty stations and the pollswere vitiated in a large way.

The Left Front has also submitted a memorandum to Director Generalin-charge Rajiv Singh to ensure a smooth, free and fair counting process.