AGARTALA: Byelection to the three-tier panchayat bodies in Tripura passed off peacefully on Sunday with 81% voters exercising their franchise, officials said."The election ended at 4 pm. No untoward incident was reported and 81.03% casting was recorded," a senior official of the state election commission said.SP of North Tripura district , Bhanupada Chakraborty, however, said five to six miscreants tried to force their way into a polling booth and disrupt the poll process, but were resisted.Polling was conducted in 132 seats of gram panchayats and seven seats of panchayat samiti.The bypolls became necessary as many elected public representatives resigned after the BJP-IPFT government assumed office in the state on March 3.Earlier on September 1, state election commissioner G Kameshwara Rao announced bye-elections in 3,207 seats of gram panchayats, 161 panchayat samiti seats and 18 seats of zilla parishad.The BJP emerged victorious in over 96% of the seats where byelection was announced without contest, as opposition parties failed to submit nomination papers."The state government has conducted byelection within the stipulated time. Except a few stray incidents, the bypoll was totally peaceful. The CPM tried to disrupt the poll process at Kadamtala in North Tripura. This is a testimony to their political bankruptcy," BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb said.The Congress and the CPM, on the other hand, accused the BJP of not letting people cast votes. PTI

Stay updated with all the Agartala Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.