For the first time, the newly settled Bru voters of Tripura exercised their franchise for the General Elections to Lok Sabha 2024 on Friday.
Earlier, they had voted in the assembly elections held last year in March. The Bru migrants who had been staying in six relief camps of North Tripura district till 2020 now received permanent settlement in 12 locations across the state.
Since the morning, eligible voters from the Bru community turned up in large numbers at the polling stations.
At the Goenang Para polling station in the Tirthamukh area under the Gomati district, hundreds of Bru voters cast their votes.
Speaking to media persons after casting his vote, a Bru community voter said, “We have never voted in the MP elections of Tripura. We are very happy to participate in the democratic exercise. The total number of voters in this particular polling station stands at 609.”
Meanwhile, people residing in a remote area of Tripura’s Dhalai district chose boats as their mode of travel for exercising their franchise rights.
The Election Commission of India took to its official X handle and posted the photos of people coming by boats to cast their votes.”
“Vote By Boat! Anchoring the choice: Voters of 44/68 Raima Valley AS remote area of Dhalai district, Tripura are coming to cast their votes by using boats,” the EC said in a post.
Tripura is leading the voter turnout charts after 54.47 per cent voting percentage was recorded in the state till 1 pm as per the data released by the Election Commission of India.
Voting for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 began at 7 am on Friday across 88 Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 12 States and Union Territories.
According to the data of Chief Electoral Officer Tripura, the number of total eligible Bru voters stands at 17,524. Out of them, 16,300 voters are enrolled in the electoral rolls of East Tripura while the rest of the others voted in the first phase of polls held on April 19.