Key constituencies to watch out for in Tripura Assembly polls

Tripura will undergo Assembly polls on February 16. The ruling BJP and other major parties are in the fray to claim the mandate of voters. The BJP-IPFT will compete with the CPI(M)-Congress alliance in the state. The results will be out on March 2.

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Here are important constituencies to look for in this election.

Manu constituency

A seat which has been a stronghold of the CPI(M) since 1993 will witness a slugfest between party’s Pravat Chowdhury, Tipra Motha’s Dhananjoy Tripura and BJP’s Mailaphru Mog. Manu is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe category.

Pravat Chowdhury will face fierce competition from Motha’s Dhananjoy, who represented Raima Valley constituency for the last 5 years as a member of the IPFT party. In 2022, he jumped to Tipra Motha.

Regaining Manu for the 7th consecutive time is the biggest challenge in front of CPI(M). On the contrary, Tipra Motha will try to get hold of it with the help of Dhananjoy, who is popular among people.

Agartala

Sudip Roy Barman, one of the prominent leaders in Tripura, will contest on Congress’s ticket here. Braman has been the MLA of Agartala since 1998. He won 4 elections as a Congressman. In 2018, he contested from BJP’s ticket and won for 5th consecutive time.

However, due to internal rifts in the BJP, he defected to the Congress. Will Barman continue the winning streak or BJP’s Papiya Datta will create history is something to watch for.

Town Bordowali

CM Manik Saha, who assumed office in 2022, will face elections from the Town Bordowali constituency.

Saha, won the MLA seat from the constituency in 2022, after beating Congress's Ashish Kumar Shah. Shah held the post from 2009 till 2022. Now he is Congress’s candidate from the same constituency. With Manik Saha not contesting from any other seat, a defeat here can be humiliating for the BJP.

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Kailashahar

The constituency will witness a battle between the Congress state chief Birajit Sinha and BJP candidate Moboshar Ali, who is the current MLA. Ali had contested as a CPI(M) candidate last time.

Birajit Sinha, who won the 2013 polls, has been campaigning extensively to get back to power.

Karbook

A Scheduled Tribe constituency, Karbook will see Ashim Kumar Tripura of BJP, Priyamani Debbarma CPI(M), TMC's Milton Chakma and TIPRA’s Sanjoy Manik Tripura fight for a win.

Every party is eyeing Karbook as it is an ST constituency. The BJP will try to retain it, while CPI(M) will aim to consolidate votes here.