LEFT BASTION TURNS RIGHT
Nagaland: NPF gives tough fight to BJP, ally in Christian state Ahmed Patel, Kamal Nath in Meghalaya to engineer tie- ups Tripura: Merger of Trinamul unit worked in BJP’s favour
The Left Front’s 25- year rule in Tripura came to an inglorious end on Saturday with the BJP and its alliance partner Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura ( IPFT) scripting history by sweeping the state Assembly polls, capturing 43 seats ( BJP 35; IPFT eight). The erstwhile ruling CPI( M) was left a distant second, winning only 16 seats.
It was a huge turnaround for the BJP, which had no MLAs in the 60member House, and got only around 1.7 per cent votes in the 2013 Assembly elections. This time, according to the Election Commission, it got 42 per cent votes.
The Congress, that over the years had played second fiddle in the state and was in power twice, failed to open its account and its candidates forfeited their security deposits in a majority of seats.
Elections were held to 59 seats in all, as polling was countermanded in one seat due to the death of a CPI( M) candidate.
Crediting the favour able results to the hard work of party workers in Tripura over the last three years, Assam education minister Hi manta Biswa Sarma, one of the key architects of the BJP’s victory in several northeastern states, said the merger of the Trinamul Congress’ Tripura unit with the BJP was the most crucial factor which consolidated the Opposition and anti- CPI( M) votes across the state. “People were fed up with the Manik Sarkar government, which was ruling the state for over two decades, and wanted to get rid of CPI( M) rule,” he said. He also dismissed the suggestion that the minorities, particularly Christians, in the Northeast were against the BJP, saying they had “wholeheartedly” supported the party.
While the BJP has not yet declared any chief ministerial candidate, it is believed that Tripura BJP president Biplab Deb will succeed Manik Sarkar as chief minister. Mr Deb, a gym instructor- turned- politician, thanked the people of Tripura for their overwhelming support and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for the party’s strong showing. “I am ready to take the responsibility. I will not run away from taking any responsibility,” he told reporters when asked if he would accept the post of chief minister.
However, he reiterated that the BJP parliamentary board, which will meet in New Delhi, will take a final decision on the chief ministership. “I have already been given a bigger responsibility, the party’s state presidentship, which I have been fulfilling to the best of my ability,” he said.
The CPI( M)- led Left Front faced one
‘ I am ready to take the responsibility. I will not run away from taking any responsibility,’ Biplab Deb told reporters when asked if he would accept the post of CM
of its most humiliating defeats. Even in 1988, when it had lost power to the Congress- Tripura Upajati Juba Samity combine, its rout had not been so complete.
Mr Deb said the people of Tripura favourably responded to the BJP’s call to root out the CPI( M) government, which has been ruling the state for over two decades. “People responded favourably to our call ‘ Chalo Paltai’ ( Let’s Change),” he said.
Mr Deb said the next government’s priority would be Tripura’s allround development and added that people voted for the BJP as there was total backwardness in the state under the Manik Sarkar government. “The word development does not exist in the dictionary of the CPI( M),” he said.
It is significant that the BJP contested in Tripura only on local issues and ignored its “Hindutava” plank in the campaign. This was more visible when the party brought “maharaja” Col. Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Debbarman Bahadur of the Manikya dynasty into focus.
The last reigning monarch of the princely state, before it merged with the Indian Union in 1949, Bir Bikram is credited with planning the kingdom’s capital in Agartala, initiating land reforms, reserving vast tracts of land for Tripura’s tribals and building Agartala’s first airport.
The BJP in- charge of Tripura, Sunil Deodhar, who had played a key role in the party’s victory, said: “Maharaja Bir Bikram was a vikas purush, an extraordinary man. He did so much for Tripura but has never received the attention he deserves. We are trying to get him the Bharat Ratna. We are also trying to ensure that Agartala airport is named after him.”
BJP strategists kept the focus of their campaign on non- development of the border state, making unemployment and noncompliance with Pay Commission recommendations for state government employees major issues.
Speaking on the poll results, CPI( M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, “Tripura’s voters have given their mandate for a BJP- IPFT government in the state. We thank the people of Tripura for giving us the opportunity to serve them for the past 25 years.”
He said the CPI( M) would continue to oppose the BJP and its “divisive agenda” not only in Tripura but all across the country.
He also alleged that the BJP has used both “money and muscle power in Tripura”.
Though the CPI( M) was voted out of power, it still had a 43 per cent voteshare.
Of the three northeastern states which went to polls, Tripura was also the most keenly watched as it was the last major Left bastion in the country. Outgoing 69- year- old chief minister Manik Sarkar had governed Tripura since 1998. A politburo member of the CPI( M), he had been at the helm for four consecutive terms.
Besides tapping into youth, the BJP made aggressive efforts to break the CPI( M)’ s stranglehold in 20 seats reserved for tribals, which possibly turned the tide in its favour. The BJP- led alliance succeeded in winning all 20 tribal reserved seats.
IPFT general secretary Mewat Jamatia won from the Asharambari seat with a margin of 7,000 votes.