GUWAHATI: The ruling BJP in Tripura swept the civic elections on Sunday, capturing power in all 20 urban local bodies (ULBs).
The elections were held against the backdrop of sporadic incidents of political violence. The CPI-M and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had accused of BJP of assaulting their workers and intimidating them.
There are altogether 334 seats and the BJP won 329 of them. It had won 112 seats in seven ULBs unopposed earlier. Three seats went to the CPI-M and one each to the TMC and the TIPRA Motha.
The fact that the BJP was serious about the civic elections was evident from Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking to Twitter to congratulate people and party workers on the success.
“The people of Tripura have given a clear message - that they prefer politics of good governance. I would like to thank them for the unequivocal support to @BJP4Tripura. These blessings give us greater strength to work for the welfare of each and every person in Tripura,” the PM wrote.
The TMC was optimistic about its success in the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) but the BJP won all its 51 seats.
“It’s a remarkable win for @BJP4Tripura in #Agartala Municipal Corporation Election, @BJP4Tripura won 51 out of 51 seats. People of Agartala have shown abundant confidence in the double engine government led by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji,” Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb tweeted.
The TMC had viewed the polls as its launch pad as it tries to make inroads into the Bengali-majority state. The defeat for the party comes just days after it dramatically became Meghalaya’s principal opposition party through a “political coup” that saw 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs defecting to the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
After defeat in Tripura, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said it was exceptional for a party beginning with negligible presence to successfully contest the polls and emerge as the main opposition party in the state with more than 20% vote share.
“This is despite the fact that we commenced our activities barely 3 months ago and @BJP4Tripura left no stone unturned to BUTCHER DEMOCRACY in Tripura. Congratulations to all the brave soldiers of @AITC4Tripura for their exemplary courage,” he tweeted.
The CPI-M alleged the BJP had turned the polls into a farce by unleashing terror and misusing the administration.
The party appealed to the people to be more active to be able to take the state out of the attacks on democracy and for their survival. The party, which ruled Tripura for 25 years from 1993-2018, had contested 206 seats.
The Tripura polls had given an opportunity to the BJP as well as the opposition parties to evaluate themselves ahead of Assembly elections, due in early 2023.