An alliance with "arch rival" Congress, young faces in the list of candidates, and "relief" to aged leaders — the Left front seems to be in a "course correction" in order to get back to power in Tripura, once one of its bastions.
The CPI(M) was in power in Tripura for 35 years, between 1978 and 2018, with just a five-year break in between. But the Left party's tally was reduced to just 16 in the House of 60 in 2018, when BJP and its regional ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) stormed to power for the first time. Although the "Narendra Modi wave" was considered as the main reason for BJP's victory, divided opposition and lack of new leaders in CPI(M) were among the two major reasons identified for the Left front's debacle.
This, according to sources, prompted CPI(M) to accept Congress' call for opposition unity ahead of the Assembly polls in Tripura on February 16 in order to deny BJP its second term in a row. On January 15, the CPI(M) and Congress decided to join hands and go for a seat-sharing arrangement. For the first time in Tripura, the CPI(M) and Congress decided to fight the elections together. They also invited Tipra Motha, a forum of regional parties led by Pradyot Deb Barma to give shape to an anti-BJP front.
Leaders in both CPI(M) and Congress believe that the unity would arrest division of the anti-BJP votes like 2018.
On Wednesday, the Left front announced a list of 47 candidates and kept the remaining 13 for the Congress, following discussion on a seat-sharing arrangement. Congress, however, has not yet made their candidate list public. Of these, 43 are CPI(M) candidates.
Narayan Kar, the conveyor of the Left front in Tripura told reporters on Wednesday that at least 24 of its candidates are young and will be contesting the Assembly elections for the first time. "We decided to give a chance to the young leaders, who have good chance of winning," Kar said. "Some veteran leaders like former CM Manik Sarkar, former ministers Badal Choudhury, Bhanu Lal Saha and Tapan Chakraborty have been given relief from contesting elections. The veteran leaders will guide us during campaigning and other organizational matters by utilizing their long experience in elections and politics," he said.
Jitendra Choudhury, general secretary of CPI(M)'s Tripura unit said Sarkar had "voluntarily decided" not to contest the polls anymore. Choudhury, a tribal leader, is now a prominent leader of CPI(M) in Tripura. Party leaders believe that projection of Choudhury as their leader would help the party get the tribal votes back.
Tipraland hurdle
The wish for "opposition unity" and an anti-BJP front ahead of the Assembly elections, however, is yet to materialise with Tipra Motha Chief Pradyot Deb Barma unwilling to join the front without a written assurance regarding fulfillment of its demand for "Greater Tipraland" state for the indigenous Tripuris. Choudhury said CPI(M) is in favour of greater autonomy under the Constitution for upliftment of the tribals but does not support geographical bifurcation of Tripura. This stand seems to have stopped Deb Barma from joining the front yet. "Our heart is still open for Motha. Even if we have announced our candidates, we are ready for readjustment if Tipra Motha joins us," Chouhdury said.
Tipra Motha is focusing mainly on 20 tribal dominated constituencies under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council areas (TTADC), where it defeated BJP, IPFT and other parties in March last year.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks