As polls near, campaigning for Tripura assembly elections gains momentum

The BJP-IPFT alliance swept the 2018 Tripura assembly polls, winning a two-third majority in the 60-member House, ending the 25-year-long Left rule in the state

With state assembly elections scheduled to be held in February-March, the political parties in Tripura have already plunged into campaigning to connect with the voters.

As part of the ‘united opposition’, both CPM and the Congress appealed to all secular, democratic and non-BJP forces to come together to fight against the BJP (Representative Photo)

The opposition Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] began a series of rallies and meetings in all the 60 assembly constituencies on Saturday. They are expected to officially announce their poll campaign programmes once the poll dates are declared.

Addressing a public gathering, state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance– ruled government and said that people are frustrated with the current government and they want CPM back in power.

“The BJP failed to fulfil in providing food, employment and other promises that they made before coming to power five years ago,” he said.

“We are organising meetings, and rallies every day in different places throughout the state highlighting the BJP’s failures and interestingly, we found people are frustrated with the government. We assured people of providing jobs, basic required facilities if we are voted to power again,” Chaudhury added.

The party submitted memorandums on issues relating to the livelihood of people, including NREGA work, food etc., last year.

Failing to create a government in 2018, Congress attempted to revive its lost position in the upcoming assembly elections targeting to replace the saffron party.

With the joining of two BJP leaders, Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Kumar Saha, the Congress geared up its preparations for the polls by organising rallies, political meetings etc., across the state.

Ahead of the 2023 Tripura assembly polls, former state minister Barman and former BJP MLA Saha joined Congress in February last year in presence of senior Congress leaders.

“Incidents of crime and corruption are visible in the BJP regime. There is no rule of law here. We are organising rallies protesting against the government’s failure and with an appeal to people not to vote for BJP again to experience the misrule,” Asish Saha said.

As part of the ‘united opposition’, both CPM and the Congress appealed to all secular, democratic and non-BJP forces to come together to fight against the BJP only on strategic issues, however, no official announcement was made about their alliance so far.

Meanwhile, the BJP already kicked off their campaign through the ‘Jan Biswas Yatra’ on January 5. Union home minister Amit Shah, who was in Tripura earlier this week, flagged off the yatra and said that the party would again form its government in the state with a two-thirds majority.

According to the sources, apart from the yatra, the BJP is also organising over 100 meetings and 50 roadshows to highlight the performances of the government over the past five years.

The BJP-IPFT government also released a report card of 84 points of their performances since they came to power.

“We are working for the people to usher peace and development throughout the year. Ours is a transparent government,” said chief minister Dr Manik Saha earlier.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) which constituted its full-fledged state committee last month, already started its campaign at the grassroots level.

“We are getting positive responses from the people. They don’t want BJP to come to power again as they failed to fulfil their promises,” said TMC leader and state chief Pijush Kanti Biswas.

Meanwhile, ahead of the state assembly elections, TMC also announced that it would maintain no ties with any other party having a relationship with the CPI(M).

The BJP-IPFT alliance swept the 2018 Tripura assembly polls, winning a two-third majority in the 60-member House, ending the 25-year-long Left rule in the state.

The BJP has 34 MLAs in the 60-member assembly, while its ally IPFT has five.