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Opposition parties in Tripura to contest ‘united’ against BJP in by-polls
The by-polls in Tripura for two Assembly constituencies, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Sepahijala district, would be held on September 5, and the counting will take place on September 8
The opposition parties in Tripura, including the TIPRA Motha, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) and the Congress on Saturday decided on a ‘unified contest’ to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the ensuing by-polls.
The by-polls in Tripura for two Assembly constituencies, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Sepahijala district, would be held on September 5, and the counting will take place on September 8.
Senior leaders of the three opposition parties met Saturday to discuss their stand. However, no final decision has been taken, except for contesting as “united” to defeat the BJP, according to party officials.
Congress President Asish Kumar Saha said, “In the meeting, we discussed the by-polls, current political scenario, etc. Though no conclusion has been made, we are hopeful to reach one soon. We reached a point to give effort unitedly to defeat the BJP in the by-polls.”
He added that a team of Congress would hold a discussion with their local party leaders at the Sonamura sub-division on the matter.
“The other two parties will also discuss at their party level. We hope that the 1:1 contest will get priority. We shall let you know who is going to contest from which seat later,” said Saha.
TIPRA Motha’s senior leader Animesh Debbarma, Congress legislators Sudip Roy Barman and Gopal Roy, including CPM’s state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury, former CPM ministers Ratan Bhowmik and Manik Dey, attended the opposition meet.
TIPRA’s Debbarma said that the meeting focused on preventing the division of the anti-ruling votes in the coming by-polls.
“The BJP came to power even after securing less than 40% of votes, and the opposition parties despite getting over 60% of votes, are sitting on the opposition bench. The 1:1 contest should happen and the opposition votes should not get divided. We are focusing on anti-ruling votes. No decision has been taken as it was the first day of the (opposition) meeting. I shall raise the issue in our party meeting. The decision will be taken by the party,” said Animesh.
Reacting to it, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee said the attempt of a so-called ‘united contest’ against the BJP is nothing new. “The same is happening nationally. We want to say that our focus is on our organisational activities and we are ready for the by-polls,” Bhattacharjee added.
The by-polls became necessary due to the death of CPM legislator of Boxanagar constituency Samsul Haque and the resignation of Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhowmik who won on a BJP ticket from the Dhanpur seat.
A total of 93,234 voters, including 43,087 voters at Boxanagar and 50,147 voters at Dhanpur seats would exercise their franchise.
A total of 51 polling stations would be set up at Boxanagar and another 59 polling stations would be set up at Dhanpur.
A total of 160 service voters would cast their votes on the polling day whereas, special voting benefits would be given to a total of 1217 veteran voters who are above 80 years of age so that they could cast their votes through postal ballots from their homes.
As per ECI, the last date for filing a nomination is August 17 and the last date for withdrawing candidature is August 21. The entire poll process needs to be completed by September 10.
