The red flag of the CPI(M), emblazoned with the dazzling white hammer and sickle, is fighting for space with the saffron lotus of the BJP in poll-bound Tripura.
As Tripura goes to polls on February 18 to elect a new 60-member state legislature, an all-out battle between the ruling CPI(M) and the new entrant, the BJP, is on the anvil.
Manik Sarkar, a four-time chief minister, is having sleepless nights as the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to wrest Tripura from the Left party, which has been ruling the state continuously for the past 25 years.
The high-voltage electioneering and political engineering under the leadership of the region’s most experienced politician, the wily Himanta Biswa Sarma, whose prowess at winning electoral battles is well known, may sound the death knell for the CPI(M).
Sarma, who has been made the convenor of the BJP-floated North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA)—which has brought several regional parties in the northeast under its umbrella—as well as the party in-charge of the Tripura polls, is going about his job meticulously.
The party is pinning its hopes on the tribal votes, although it touts a straight victory given the huge popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Of the 60 seats in the state, 20 are reserved for the scheduled tribes. With a tally of 18 out of these 20, the CPI(M) had won a lion’s share of ST seats.
The BJP wants to corner the ruling CPI(M) on the ST seats. With this in mind, Sarma has ‘almost finalised’ the BJP's pre-poll alliance with the Indigenous Peoples’ Front of Tripura (IPFT) led by N.C. Debbarma.
“We had a meeting with the IPFT and are on the verge of forming an alliance,” Sarma said, adding that a proposal has been sent to the party high command, which would have to be approved by the party’s parliamentary board after which a formal announcement would be made.
“We are confident of forming a BJP government in Tripura,” he said.
The IPFT, a regional party of Tripura, is demanding “Twipraland” or a separate state for the state’s indigenous communities. Ironically, the indigenous population of the state is in a minority, having been outnumbered by the Bengali-speaking majority. Tripura has 19 indigenous tribes.
Two other regional parties—The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and the National Convention of Tripura (NCT)—are likely to join hands with the Congress, accusing the saffron party of 'ignoring' them.
However, BJP Tripura vice president Subal Bhowmik denied the allegations and said “doors would be open” for any anti-Left party that sought to join the alliance.
Meanwhile, the Congress is also holding talks with regional parties other than the IPFT to forge an anti-Left and anti-BJP alliance in order to take on the two dominant parties.
Congress legislature party leader Gopal Chandra Roy said that they are likely to forge an alliance with the INPT and the NCT. The former is led by erstwhile militant leader Bijoy Hrangkhawl. Interestingly, both the regional parties are opposed to the IPFT’s core demand of a separate state Twipraland for indigenous communities.
The proposed alliance of the two regional parties and the Congress would focus on the development of the indigenous communities and the demand to grant more power to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.
INPT general secretary Jagdish Debbarma informed that discussions were on for a common minimum programme that would seek to 'develop and empower' indigenous communities.
The IPFT (Tipraha), a breakaway faction of the IPFT, led by former MLA Rajeshwar Debbarma and Trinamool Congress leaders, is also engaged in alliance talks with the Congress. He said that the discussions have been ‘positive’ and ‘meaningful’ so far.
According to Rajeshwar Debbarma, the BJP’s alliance with the N.C. Debbaarma faction of the IPFT has sent a 'negative' vibe across Tripura since it has been demanding a divided Tripura by carving a separate state for the indigenous people of the state.
He felt that the anti-Left and anti-BJP alliance has a good chance of sweeping the polls, the counting for which is slated for March 3.
The BJP’s point man for the northeast, Ram Madhav, feels ending 25 years of Left rule in Tripura will be fantastic for his party as it will pave the road for a saffron surge across the country in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
As for the CPI(M), a defeat would mean a deathblow to the Left movement in the country as that would leave the CPI(M) with only Kerala as the state where it is in power.
