Tripura Bypolls on Sep 5: Campaigning for Dhanpur, Boxanagar Assembly Seats Ends – News18

Campaigning for the September 5 bypolls in Dhanpur and Boxanagar Assembly seats in Tripura’s Sepahijala district ended on Sunday.

In both constituencies, BJP organised mega rallies, road shows, motorbike rallies, and door-to-door campaigns to reach out to voters.

Chief Minister Manik Saha led the party’s campaign from the front while ministers, MLAs, and leaders joined the campaign trail in the last couple of days.

CPI(M) politburo member Manik Sarkar and party’s state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury along with leaders campaigned for its candidates, but Tipra Motha, the main opposition, and Congress stayed away from campaigning making the electoral battle a one-on-one contest.

BJP’s Tafajjal Hussain, who unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election in February, will take on CPI(M)’s Mizan Hussain in minority-dominated Boxanagar constituency, still considered the Left party’s stronghold.

Despite efforts by the BJP, the CPI(M) had managed to retain the seat by a margin of 4,849 votes. Of the total 43,087 voters, electors from the minority community count for around 55 per cent, which is seen as a major vote bank for the CPI(M).

Dhanpur, once a strong bastion of the communists, is heading for a direct fight between BJP’s Bindu Debnath and CPI(M)’s Kaushik Debnath. According to political analysts, two independent candidates who are in the battle are unlikely to make any impact.

In the 2023 Assembly elections, the BJP won by a margin of 3,500 votes and the Tipra Motha nominee polled over 8,000 votes, which ensured the saffron party’s victory after 25 five years.

Mizan is the son of Boxanagar CPI(M) MLA Samsol Haque who passed away in July causing a vacancy. The bypoll in Dhanpur was necessitated after Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik resigned from the Assembly days after her election.

“The campaign for the bypolls in two Assembly constituencies came to an end on Sunday without any trouble. All steps have been taken to ensure free, fair and peaceful bypolls on September 5”, Sepahijala district magistrate told PTI.

Out of the total 110 booths, around 34 have been categorised as vulnerable where paramilitary forces will be deployed, he said, adding around 2,500 CRPF and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans have been deployed for the polls.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)