SPECIAL STATISTICS: 2012-13 STATE ELECTIONS

General Election 2013 to the Legislative Assembly of Tripura

ripura witnessed a single-day poll to elect its 11th Legislative Assembly on 14 February 2013. This was the ninth assembly election in the state since 1972 when Tripura had attained full statehood. Nearly 94% of the over 23 lakh registered voters in 60 assembly seats turned out to vote, the highest ever in the states electoral history and up by one percentage point since 2008 (Table 1A). The total number of contestants however came down drastically, from 313 in 2008 to 249 this time a decline of over 20%. The Outcome As always, the main contest in the state was between the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI(M)) and the Indian National Congress-Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra alliance (INC+/Congress). Apart from the CPI(M), the Left Front consisted of the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) which had contested on its own in the 2008 assembly election. When votes were counted on 28 February, Tripuras political status as a bastion of the left got further strengthened with the Left Front being elected for the seventh time in the state (1977, 1983, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013). Moreover, this was the Fronts fth consecutive win in the state and with a majority that was bigger than the previous election. For CPI(M)s Manik Sarkar, who has been the chief minister of the
These Election Statistics on the State Assembly Elections 2012-13 have been prepared by the Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). Kanchan Malhotra and Himanshu Bhattacharya from the CSDS data unit processed the aggregate data for all the states. Shreyas Sardesai of Lokniti, CSDS, prepared the nal tables and the text.

state since 1998, this was a fourth straight mandate. Gaining one seat since the previous election, the Left Front won 50 of the total 60 seats (83%), a tally second only to the 54 seats it had won in 1977 (Table 1B). What is more, for
Table 1A: Summary Electoral Participation Electorate, Turnout and Number of Candidates Compared to the Assembly Election, 2008
Assembly Election 2013 Change from 2008 (%)

Total electorate Male electorate Female electorate Total voters Total turnout (%) Number of candidates

23,52,505 11,97,849 11,54,656 22,02,065 93.60 249

+15.43 +15.31 +15.56 +16.82 +1.11 -20.45

For electorate, voters and candidates the change is in per cent, with 2008 as the base. Change in turnout is computed in percentage points, compared to turnout in 2008. Source: Figures available from the Election Commission of India website http://eciresults.ap.nic.in/ and the website of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Tripura http://ceotripura.nic.in/Docs/FinalRollFig.pdf; both links accessed on 8 March 2013; Data aggregated and recomputed by CSDS data unit.

the third consecutive assembly election, the Left Front won more than half the valid votes polled. At 52.3%, its vote share was a gain of 1 percentage point since the previous election and its highest ever in the state. With a vote share of 48.1%, the CPI(M) won 49 of the 55 seats it had put up candidates on, a gain of three since 2008. Fourteen of the 49 seats won by the party were by margins of over 5,000 votes and 34 seats were won by margins between 1,000 and 5,000 votes. Only one seat was won by a very narrow margin. The CPI won one seat and garnered a vote share of 1.5%. Both the RSP, which had won two seats in 2008, and the AIFB, drew a blank. For the Indian National Congress-led alliance (INC+) the defeat was nearly as bad as it had been in 2008. The alliance won 10 seats, down one since the previous election, and its overall vote share was 44.1%, a minor gain of 1 percentage point. Out of the 48 seats that the Congress contested, the party won 10 seats with a vote share of 36.5%. Half the seats won by the Congress were by margins of less than

Table 1B: Summary Results Seats Contested, Won and Votes Secured by Major Parties and Alliances in 2013, Compared to Assembly Election 2008
Seats Contested Seats Won Gain/Loss Vote Share Vote % Vote Swing of Seats (%) Per Seat since 2008 since 2008 Contested (% Points)

Left Front (LF) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Communist Party of India (CPI) All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Indian National Congress+ (INC+) Indian National Congress (INC/Congress) Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Janata Dal-United (JD-U) Amra Bangalee (AMB) Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (Liberation) (CPI-ML(L)) Other parties Independents Total

60 55 2 1 2 60 48 12 50 2 1 16 17 10 10 23 249

50 49 1 0 0 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 60

+1 +3 0 0 -2 -1 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

52.33 48.11 1.57 0.70 1.95 44.12 36.53 7.59 1.54 0.03 0.02 0.25 0.46 0.16 0.13 0.96 100

52.96 47.05 39.41 48.06 44.96 40.46 1.84 1.04 1.43 0.93 1.67 0.97 -

+0.99 +0.10 +0.09 +0.54 +0.26 +1.42 +0.15 +1.38 +0.05 -0.07 -0.04 -0.04 +0.46 -0.12 -0.48 -2.28 0

(1) In 2008, the LF did not include AIFB, but the percentage point change in vote share since 2008 calculated for LF takes into account AIFBs vote of 2008 as it was a constituent of the LF this time. In 2008, INC+ had also included Party for Democratic Socialism (PDS) which secured 0.11% of the votes. PDS did not contest this time, hence the percentage point change in the vote share since 2008 for INC+ does not add up. (2) Other parties in 2013 include Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) and Samajwadi Party (SP). Other parties in 2008 included PDS, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) (3) IPFT did not contest in 2008. Source: Detailed constituency level results downloaded from Election Commission of India website http://eciresults.ap.nic. in/; accessed on 8 March 2013. Data aggregated and recomputed by CSDS data unit.

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SPECIAL STATISTICS: 2012-13 STATE ELECTIONS

Table 2A: Turnout and Performance of Major Alliances and Parties by Districts
Districts Total Seats Turnout Left Front INC+INPT BJP (%) Seats Won Vote (%) Seats Won Vote (%) Seats Won Vote (%) Others Seats Won Vote (%)

West Sepahijala Khowai Gomati South Dhalai Unakoti North Total

14 9 6 7 7 6 4 7 60

93.2 95.0 94.1 94.6 95.5 91.8 92.2 91.6 93.6

8 9 6 6 7 5 3 6 50

48.6 54.0 56.8 52.8 59.0 49.9 51.9 49.2 52.3

6 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 10

48.8 43.9 34.3 44.5 38.8 46.4 44.8 45.0 44.1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1.3 1.0 1.2 0.9 1.3 1.0 1.4 4.8 1.5

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1.3 1.1 7.7 1.8 0.8 2.7 2.0 1.0 2.0

Others in this Table and in Table 2B include other smaller parties and Independents. Source: As in Table 1B.

Table 2B: Turnout and Performance of Major Alliances and Parties by Reserved and General Constituencies
Categories Total Seats Turnout Left Front INC+INPT BJP (%) Seats Won Vote (%) Seats Won Vote (%) Seats Won Vote (%) Others Seats Won Vote (%)

Reserved (SC) Reserved (ST) General Total

10 20 30 60

94.2 93.1 93.7 93.6

8 19 23 50

53.1 53.4 51.4 52.3

2 1 7 10

44.1 41.6 45.6 44.1

0 0 0 0

1.1 1.2 1.9 1.5

0 0 0 0

1.6 3.8 1.1 2.0

As per Census 2001, SCs constitute 17.4% and STs constitute 31.1% of Tripuras total population. Available from http://www. censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/A-Series/A-Series_links/t_00_005.aspx, accessed on 18 March 2013. Source: As in Table 1B.

1,000 votes. The Congress partner, INPT, could not win a single seat from the 12 it had contested. In fact, it lost the only seat it had won last time. This is despite the fact that its overall vote share registered an increase since 2008. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which had elded 50 candidates in the state also failed to win any seat and secured 1.5% of the total votes, a minor gain since last time. In fact, none of the other parties or independents in the fray could win any seat. The combined vote share of the Left Front and the Congress alliance was 96.4%. Five women, all from the CPI(M), made it to the Tripura assembly this time, two more than the 2008 election. This is the highest number of women MLAs in the state ever. This is also despite the fact that the number of women contestants came down from 31 in 2008 to only 15 this time. A district-wise analysis of the verdict reveals that in three out of the total eight districts in the state, the Left Front won each and every seat on offer. These three districts are Sepahijala, Khowai and South. The South district was also where the Left Front secured the highest percentage of votes at 59%. Moreover, the highest victory margin in the election was in the Hrishyamukh constituency which falls in this district. This district also saw
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the highest voter turnout among all districts. There were four districts where the Left Front won all the available seats but one. These districts are Gomati, Dhalai, Unakoti, and North. It was only in the West district that the Congress alliance gave a tough ght to the Left Front, winning six of the 14 seats on offer. Sixty per cent of the Congress total seats came from this district. Interestingly, this was also the only district in the state where the Congress secured more votes than

the Left Front. While the Congress alliances vote share was 48.8%, the Left Front garnered 48.6% of the vote. Even though the left trailed the Congress overall in this district, it must be pointed out that the CPI(M) won the Ramnagar seat in Agartala, which is part of this district. This is signicant considering that the party had last won this seat in 1983. While the Left Front outperformed the Congress alliance in all categories of seats reserved scheduled caste (SC), reserved scheduled tribe (ST) and general seats, its best performance was in the reserved ST seats. Out of 20 such seats in the state, the Left Front won 19, the same as in 2008 (Table 2B). Its total vote share in the ST seats went up by one percentage point to settle at 53.4%. In the reserved SC category, the Front won eight out of the 10 available seats with a vote share of 53.1%. The remaining two seats were won by the Congress. In the 2008 election there had been seven SC seats, all of which were won by the Left Front. Coming to the 30 general seats, the contest here between the Left Front and the Congress was closer in terms of overall vote share than it was in the SC and ST seats. The Left Front won 23 of these seats; the same as last time, and the Congress won seven, down three since 2008. In 2008 there had been 33 general seats.

Survey
August 27, 2011

Experimental Economics: A Survey

by

Sujoy Chakravarty, Daniel Friedman, Gautam Gupta, Neeraj Hatekar, Santanu Mitra, Shyam Sunder Over the past few decades, experimental methods have given economists access to new sources of data and enlarged the set of economic propositions that can be validated. This field has grown exponentially in the past few decades, but is still relatively new to the average Indian academic. The objective of this survey is to familiarise the Indian audience with some aspects of experimental economics. For copies write to: Circulation Manager, Economic and Political Weekly, 320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013. email: circulation@epw.in

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