Is it 'Chalo Paltai': Tripura to decide today

Will Tripura remain with its popular Left Chief Minister Manik Sarkar or is it 'Chalo Paltai' (Let's Change)?

The CPM is optimistic about retaining power in Tripura where 25.73 lakh voters on Sunday will walk to polling booths in 59 of the 60 Assembly seats to decide whether to give the Left Front another shot at power or not. The election in one seat will be held on March 12 following the death of a CPM candidate.

The party under Sarkar has been in the power for the past 25 years but for the first time in its history, it is in a direct fight with the BJP, which has formed an alliance with the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT). The Congress' presence is not felt in the campaign and has been relegated to the fringes of the electoral battle.

The CPM is contesting 57 seats while the partners CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc are contesting one each. While the BJP is contesting 51 seats, the IPFT is in the fray in remaining nine seats.

The campaign in the state has reached a feverish pitch in the past few days amid BJP trying to oust the Sarkar government through a high-decibel campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and managed by NDA's north-east face Himanta Biswas Sharma.

CPM leaders are cautious in their reactions when asked about the Front's prospects. While the state unit has conveyed to the party headquarters that they are comfortably placed and could even win 45 seats, the central leadership is cautious and say that they will win the state. They believe Sarkar's clean image would help them scrape through but still, there are questions on development and jobs would be a problem.

The assessment in the Left circles is that the BJP may not benefit from its alliance with the IPFT, as non-Left Bengalis in the state may now opt for the CPM against the BJP rather than the Congress, which is not in good shape in the state.

The election results in this north-eastern state would have its effect within the CPM as it would have a bearing on the ongoing tussle in the party over its relationship with the Congress. A loss or even an unimpressive win in Tripura, where it has 50 seats now, would strengthen the faction that argues for an electoral understanding with the Congress to take on the BJP.