Agartala (PTI): Alleging that the Election Commission did not take steps to prevent large-scale rigging in the Tripura by-elections, the CPI(M)-led Left Front announced that it will boycott the counting of votes.

The polling for the by-elections to the Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly seats in Sepahijala district was held on Tuesday. An average turnout of 86.50 per cent was recorded in the two seats.

The Left Front alleged that large-scale rigging happened during the polling.

"We drew the attention of the Election Commission right from the beginning of the polling. But, the sorry state of affairs was that no steps were taken to prevent the large-scale rigging," Left Front convenor Narayan Kar alleged on Wednesday night.

The Left Front demanded cancellation of the election, and announcement of fresh polling, but the EC refused to take any steps in this regard, he said.

"The motive of the EC is amply clear. In this situation, what is the point of joining the counting of votes, scheduled for September 8? Therefore, we have decided to boycott the counting," he added.

The by-election to the Boxanagar constituency was necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque. Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik's resignation as the MLA of Dhanpur necessitated the by-election in that seat.

BJP's Tafajjal Hussain is contesting against CPI(M)'s Mizan Hussain from the Boxanagar seat. It has 66 per cent minority voters of a total of 43,087 electors.

In the last assembly elections in February, the CPI(M) retained the seat.

The Dhanpur assembly constituency, once considered a stronghold of the Left, witnessed a fight between the BJP's Bindu Debnath and Kaushik Debnath of the CPI(M). There are 50,346 voters. The BJP won the seat for the first time in the assembly poll held seven months ago.

The Congress and the Tripra Motha did not field their candidates in the two seats for the bypolls.

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Bhopal, Nov 2: The Madhya Pradesh government will provide credit cards to those rearing cows and their progeny, similar to those available to farmers, to help manage the upkeep of cattle, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced on Saturday.

“Along with the people growing crops, credit cards will also be made available to those rearing cows and their progeny to enable them to manage expenses on their care,” Yadav said during the state-level ‘Govardhan Puja’ ceremony at Ravindra Bhawan here.

He said that people who care for more than 10 cows will be given special financial aid, adding that the state government will invest and make arrangements for rearing 5,000 to 10,000 cows under the limits of municipal Corporations.

He said that people found guilty of slaughtering cows in MP will get seven years of imprisonment.

Earlier, he took part in the Govardhan Puja at his official house.

Later in Gwalior, where he attended two such events, Yadav said the state would protect the cow and its offspring.

Ministers and MLAs across the state also participated in Govardhan Puja.

Before holding this function at the state level, the BJP government in MP had organised ‘Shastra Puja’ (worshipping of weapons) on Dussehra in a similar manner, with the CM, his ministers and MLAs across the state joining in.