Agartala: Polling is underway in the state of Tripura amid massive security arrangements.

According to ANI, 74 per cent voter turnout has been recorded till 4 PM. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar cast his vote at a polling booth in Agartala. He is an MLA from Dhanpur constituency.

As per Election Commission, the polling percentage is likely to go up as there are people in queues to vote even now. Also, apart from the discovery of two crude bombs, the polling has been peaceful throughout the state.

Voting is being held in 59 of the total 60 seats due to the death of the CPI(M) candidate for the Charilam constituency, Ramendra Narayan Deb Barma, six days ago.

The Charilam constituency will go to polls on March 12.

Voters were seen queuing up at polling stations across the state since morning.

In hilly and tribal areas, women huddled in large numbers outside poll booths in their colourful traditional attires.

Small-time shopkeepers were seen doing a brisk business selling tea and snacks to the voters.

Voting will end at 4 pm in all the 3,214 polling stations in the state, election office sources said.

Altogether 307 candidates are in the fray with the CPI(M), the major partner of the ruling Left Front, contesting 56 seats and its constituents -- RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI -- one seat each.

The BJP, which forged a pre-poll alliance with tribal outfit Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), has fielded 51 candidates.

The IPFT, an anti-Left party, will contest the remaining nine.

The Congress is going it alone in Tripura this time and is contesting 59 seats.

The party has not fielded any candidate from Kakrabon constituency in Gomati district.

Altogether, there are 25,73,413 registered voters, of whom 13,05,375 are male and 12,68,027 female.

The number of voters under the third gender category in the state is 11 and that of the new voters is 47,803.

Twenty seats are reserved for the scheduled tribes.