Tripura polls: Joint initiative being planned to defeat BJP, says CPI(M)

A joint initiative of the Communist Party of India CPI(M) to bring all secular and democratic forces ahead of the Assembly elections in Tripura to defeat the BJP has reached its final stage, the Left party’s state secretary Jitendra Choudhury claimed on Tuesday.

However, Choudhury did not name the parties that will be associated with the party’s move.

“Details of the joint initiative will be made known very shortly. It is aimed at defeating the BJP in the Assembly elections due in February”, he told news agency PTI.

But, the senior leader mentioned that the initiative should not be considered as political adjustment or alignment.

“For the CPI(M), win or defeat in elections does not matter much. We are working hard to restore democracy in the state where democratic values have been throttled in the past 58 months of BJP rule”, Choudhury added.

In particular, the BJP and the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) fought the Assembly elections together in 2018 and wrested power from the Left Front.

The secretary further included that the party’s priority is to restore democracy and create an environment where the electors could exercise their democratic rights freely.

“We are exploring all possibilities to ensure defeat of the BJP in the 2023 Assembly elections, but no final decision (about alliances) has been taken yet”, said a senior Congress leader who doesn’t wish to be quoted.

Previously, senior Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman in September had announced that the party would leave no stone unturned to defeat the BJP in the 2023 elections, an affirmation which was seen as indicative of extending a hand towards the CPI(M) and the new tribal party TIPRA Motha led by former royal scion Prodyot Kishore Deb Barman.

Also, All India Congress Committtee (AICC) general secretary Ajay Kumar is scheduled to arrive in the poll-bound state today evening to review the party’s preparation for the assembly election.

He will attend two programmes, one at Kailashahar in Unakoti district and the other in Agartala, said AICC secretary Szarita Laitphlang.

Assuming that the Congress will be part of the joint initiative, BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee said the saffron party is not worried about it.

“The love affair between the Congress and the CPIM) is nothing new to the people of Tripura. Earlier, it was a secret affair and now it will be open,” he said.

Bhattacharjee also asserted that people had taught a lesson to both parties in the 2018 assembly election and they will reject them this time too.

Significantly, the BJP-IPFT alliance had swept the 2018 Tripura Assembly polls winning a two-third majority in the 60-member House, thereby ending 25-year-long Left rule in the northeastern state.

The BJP-IPFT combine won 43 seats in 2018. The BJP bagged 35 seats and the IPFT 8. The CPI(M) has 15 MLAs in the assembly. The Congress won one seat in a by-election held in June.

(With Agency inputs)