Women voters hold key in Tripura bypoll as six candidates vie for power in multi-cornered fight
Agartala, April 8 (IANS) Women voters are set to play a decisive role in determining the electoral fortunes of six candidates in Thursday’s bye-election to the Dharmanagar Assembly constituency in North Tripura district, with the female electorate outnumbering their male counterparts by 1,374 voters.
According to election officials, 23,758 women voters surpass the 22,384 male voters in the recently-published final electoral rolls.
The mixed-population Dharmanagar Assembly constituency has remained a stronghold of either the Congress or the BJP since 2008, with the CPI(M) last winning the seat in 2003.
A multi-cornered contest is expected in the April 9 bye-election to the Dharmanagar Assembly constituency, which shares borders with Assam and Mizoram.
Altogether, six candidates are in the fray, including nominees from major political parties, smaller outfits, and an Independent contender, making the electoral battle highly competitive.
The key candidates include Jahar Chakraborti of the ruling BJP, Chayan Bhattacharjee of the Congress, and Amitabha Datta representing the CPI(M)-led Left Front.
Datta, who won the seat in the 2003 Assembly polls, is a former MLA of the Left party. Jahar Chakraborti, 59, currently serves as the BJP’s North Tripura district Vice-President.
In addition, candidates from the Amra Bangalee party, SUCI, and an independent aspirant are also contesting the bypoll.
The Left Front and the Congress, which had entered into a seat-sharing arrangement during the 2023 Tripura Assembly elections to jointly challenge the BJP, are contesting separately in this bypoll, further intensifying the electoral contest.
Congress leader Chayan Bhattacharjee had contested from the Dharmanagar seat in 2023 but lost to BJP candidate Biswa Bandhu Sen by a narrow margin of 956 votes.
The bye-election was necessitated by the demise of sitting MLA and Tripura Assembly Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen, who passed away on December 26, 2025, at a private hospital in Bengaluru after a prolonged illness at the age of 72.
Sen had been elected to the Tripura Assembly four times — twice as a Congress candidate in 2008 and 2013, and later in 2018 and 2023 as a BJP nominee from the same constituency.
The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4. The month-long campaign for the bye-election concluded on Tuesday afternoon.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and state BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee, former Chief Minister and veteran Left leader Manik Sarkar and CPI(M) state Secretary Jitendra Chaudhury, as well as Congress Working Committee member and former minister Sudip Roy Barman and state party President A.K. Saha, led extensive campaigns for their respective parties.
Election authorities and the state police have made elaborate arrangements to ensure the poll is conducted in a free, fair, and transparent manner.
An election official said that all polling personnel, along with Electronic Voting Machines and other voting materials, departed for the 55 polling stations on Wednesday. Of the 55 polling stations, 11 will be managed entirely by women, while two each will be operated by differently-abled personnel and youth polling staff.
–IANS
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