The by-elections for two assembly constituencies of Tripura including 20-Boxanagar and 23-Dhanpur in Sepahijala district will be held on September 5th next and counting of polled votes will be conducted on September 8th.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday afternoon announced poll schedules for two vacant seats of 60-members Tripura legislative assembly along with five other assembly seats in Jharkhand, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The Dhanpur seat fell vacant after the resignation of Union Minister of state, Smt Pratima Bhowmik and the death of CPI(M)'s Boxanagar MLA  Samsul Haque in July this year.

As per the poll schedules, the date of issue of Gazette notification schedule on August 10th, last date of making nominations is August 17. The scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on August 18 and the last date for withdrawal is August 21.

After announcement of polls, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Tripura said that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) shall come into force with immediate effect in the districts, in which the whole or any part of the assembly constituency going for election is included.

It may be recalled here that on March 15, 2023, the union minister of state for social justice and empowerment Pratima Bhowmik who was elected in the 2023 assembly elections from Dhanpur assembly constituency in Sonamura subdivision has bid an emotional farewell to her electors after submitting her resignation from the assembly.  She submitted her resignation to continue her MP status.

In the assembly elections, Smt Pramita Bhowmik secured a total of 19,148 votes and defeated her rival candidate Kaushik Chanda of CPI (M) 3,500 votes. CPI (M) candidate got 15,648 votes, while, Tipra-Motha candidate Amiya Dayal Noatia got 8,671 votes, which has played a crucial role to lose the strong bastion of CPI (M), which was represented by former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

The by-elections have been necessitated after senior CPI (M) leader and sitting MLA from Boxanagar assembly constituency, Samsul Haque breathed his last after he suffered a cardiac arrest in the wee hours July 19, 2023 last.  In the 2023 assembly elections, Haque secured a total of 19,404 votes and defeated his nearest rival BJP candidate Taffajal Hossan by 4,849 votes. Taffajal Hossan secured 14,555 votes.

In the 60-member House BJP now has 31 MLAs while its ally - the Indigenous People Front of Tripura (IPFT) has one lawmaker. Tipra Motha won 13 seats in the last Assembly election held in February, while the Congress won three seats. CPI (M)'s tally has been reduced to 10 after Haque's death.