By IANS
Agartala : India’s northeastern state of Tripura made electoral history when a record 92 percent votes were cast in Saturday’s election to the 60-seat assembly, officials said here Monday.
“About 92 percent of the 2.03 million electorates have exercised their franchise and this was an all time high percentage of votes polled in any election in India,” said G.S.G. Ayyangar, the chief electoral officer of Tripura.
He said: “Since the first elections in 1952 in the country, this was an all time record in the electoral history of India.”
According to Ayyangar, the previous record of high polling percentage was in Sikkim, where more than 87 percent votes had been polled in the 2004 assembly elections.
The CEO said that of the 60 assembly constituencies, maximum of 95.69 percent votes have been polled in Birganj assembly segment in south Tripura.
Interestingly, the country’s smallest polling station is in Tripura – the Jampuijala JB Colony School under the tribal reserved Takarjala assembly constituency in west Tripura, about 35 km west of here, has only four voters and three of them have cast their votes.
The ballots will be counted March 7. Sixty counting halls are being set up in 17 locations across the state.
“For the first time 10 to 15 counting observers would be appointed in each counting hall to supervise the counting of votes,” Ayyangar added.