AGARTALA: The ruling BJP faces a serious challenge in Tripura despite a scattered Opposition with prospects of a division of anti-establishment votes. The state, where the polls are due February 16 for the 60-member Assembly, is bracing for a triangular contest involving the BJP, Congress-Left combine and tribe-based political party TIPRA Motha. The Trinamool Congress is also in the fray but appears to be out of the reckoning.
The Congress and Left parties struck a seat-sharing deal to thwart the division of anti-BJP votes. The Left, which ruled Tripura for 25 years from 1993 until being decimated in 2018 by the BJP, will contest 47 seats – 43 of them by the CPM. The Congress will contest the remaining 13 seats.
Their effort to bring the TIPRA Motha on board failed. The BJP, whose image took a beating during the tenure of former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb when Tripura was in news more for his bizarre statements than anything else, also made an attempt to align with the TIPRA Motha but did not succeed as it insisted on a written assurance on the demand for ‘Greater Tipraland.’
The TIPRA Motha holds sway in the 20 seats reserved for the STs in the tribal areas. This is the reason why the Congress-Left combine and the BJP wanted to align with the party. The BJP is contesting all 60 seats, TIPRA Motha 42 and TMC 28. Realising that the vote division might benefit only the ruling BJP, the Congress-Left combine is reshaping up their strategy.
“We are trying to assess the winnability factor of the candidates to ensure the BJP’s defeat,” said Jitendra Choudhury, CPM state secretary.
TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Manikya Debbarma believes the BJP will not gain despite the multi-party contest.
“There won’t be any division of anti-BJP votes. People will vote for a party they think can defeat the BJP. They have made up their mind,” the royal scion said. He said the TIPRA Motha is contesting 22 seats outside the tribal areas as its goal is to emerge as a pan-Tripura party.
“At some point, Tripura will need a regional party that speaks for all communities. My outlook has never been ethnocentric. I speak for all communities,” Debbarma said. The TMC does not have much stake in Tripura. Its central leadership is investing more in Meghalaya where the polls are due February 27. The party’s Tripura chief Pijush Kanti Biswas is not very enthusiastic. “We have a financial crunch. You need money for the election campaign. The candidates have received nothing from the party. I feel frustrated,” said Biswas.
The BJP puts up a brave face. “It is not a matter of a division of votes. People are with us,” said BJP’s state spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya. “The Opposition (Congress-Left) does not have any existence in Tripura. They struggled to find candidates,” he said.