Tripura election live updates: 74% voting till 4 pm

New Delhi: The Tripura legislative assembly election is being held today to elect members of the 59 constituencies in this north-east state. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has already expressed confidence that it will retain power in the state. All the top leaders of BJP, CPI-M, Congress and Trinamool Congress played their roles in the hectic two-month long poll campaign that ended on Friday. The results will be announced on 3 March 2018. Tripura election live updates:

74% voter turnout till 4pm, it likely to go up as there are people in queues to vote even now: Election Commission #TripuraElection2018 pic.twitter.com/UWktStCOp7

— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2018

• 49 % voting till 1 pm
• 23.25% voter turnout recorded till 11 am
• Tripura CM Manik Sarkar casts his vote at a polling booth in Agartala, he is an MLA from Dhanpur constituency

Image: ANI

• 11% voters turnout recorded till 9 am
• BJP Tripura president Biplab Kumar Deb cast his vote at booth number 31/34 in Udaipur, says, "these election results will be historic, we will definitely win. PM & Amit Shah ji called me & gave good wishes."

I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Tripura, particularly young voters, to turnout in record numbers and cast their vote in the Assembly Elections. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 18, 2018

• Polling begins for 59 out of the total 60 seats

Image: ANI

• Agartala: Security beefed up near Indo-Bangladesh border ahead of Tripura assembly elections on Sunday

Image: ANI Tripura has 60 constituencies and the election in state's Charilam Assembly seat, which was postponed following the death of CPI(M) candidate, will be held on March 12, said Chief Electoral Officer Sriram Taranikanti. On February 11, CPI(M) candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma died of cardiac arrest while campaigning. The tenure of Tripura Legislative Assembly will end on 6 March 2018 and the Left Front led by Manik Sarkar is seeking re-election, having governed Tripura since the 1998 election. In India's 65-year-long electoral history, CPI-M has never been in direct confrontation with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Tripura represents two Parliamentary Constituencies. Tripura Legislative Assembly has a unicameral legislature. The last election for the Tripura Legislative assembly was in Feb 2013. Manik Sarkar of the CPI (M) became the Chief Minister of the state for his fourth term.