78 percent voter turnout in Tripura election

The voter turnout in Tripura Assembly election by 9 p.m. on Sunday was 78.56 percent, Tripura Election Commissioner G. Kameswara Rao said.

"The voter turnout till now is 78.56 %. Voting is still underway at few polling stations," the official said.

The state Election Commissioner also said voting slips were distributed till 4 p.m. and to those voters who were at the booths.

Voting for the 60 seat Tripura Assembly election began at 8 a.m.

The Left front Communist Party of India (Marxist) is trying to win a sixth term against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress Party.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, under whose leadership the CPM won 50 of the 60 seats in the last assembly polls, had led the Left's poll campaign.

The BJP is contesting in alliance with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura.

Meghalaya and Mizoram undergo polling on February 27, and results for the three northeastern states will be declared on March 3.