Multi-corner contest in most seats in Tripura Assembly polls

A multi-cornered contest would be witnessed in 57 seats and a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress-Left alliance in three remaining Assembly segments as Tripura goes to crucial polls on Thursday.

Unlike the previous elections, triangular or multi-cornered contests would be witnessed in 57 seats between the Bharatiya Janata Party-Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance and the Congress-CPI(M)-led Left Front coalition.

The straight contests between the BJP and the opposition alliance are on the cards in three Assembly segments -- Barjala in Agartala, Jubarajnagar in north Tripura and Sabroom in south Tripura.

The influential Tipra Motha Party (TMP), which is now governing the politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), is contesting 42 seats, 22 beyond the areas inhabited by the tribals, who constitute one third of Tripura's over four million populations.

Headed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress has fielded candidates in 28 seats alone. In an interesting turn of event, TMP chief and the state's erstwhile royal scion Pradyot Bikram Kishore Manikya Debbarman, on Tuesday announced that he would quit direct politics and would never attend any political platform.

The BJP-IPFT alliance in the 2018 Assembly elections won 44 seats jointly (BJP 36, IPFT 8) and for the first time came to power thrashing a humiliating defeat to the CPI(M) led Left Parties after 25 years (1993-2018).

The CPI(M) last time secured only 16 seats.

In the last five years, the tribal based IPFT lost its grounds enormously with three of its MLAs quitting the party and joining TMP. Even as the BJP allotted five seats against nine in 2018 to its junior ally IPFT, the latter has fielded six candidates.

At Ampinagar in southern Tripura, the BJP has nominated Patal Kanya Jamatiya while the IPFT has fielded sitting MLA Sindhu Chandra Jamatia.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front, which ruled Tripura for 35 years in two phases (1978-1988 and 1993-2018), over the years lost its political bases both among the tribals and the scheduled caste communities leading to winning only four seats (two tribal reserved and two scheduled caste reserve) in the last assembly polls (2018).

The ruling BJP, opposition CPI(M), Congress and the Trinamool Congress separately tried a lot to forge alliance with the TMP to get the electoral support from the tribals but the TMP rejected all the parties.

However, the TMP has a tacit support to the opposition Congress-Left alliance. The CPI(M) and the Congress, the two traditional rivals since 1952, are under a seat adjustment deal, contesting the elections jointly and urging the people to vote out the BJP to restore democracy, and to protect the constitution.

Tripura Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gitte Kirankumar Dinkarrao said a total of 259 candidates, including 31 women, are trying their electoral fortunes in the elections.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, 297 candidates, including 24 women, had fought the elections.

The CEO said that of the 259 candidates, the highest number of 55 candidates have been put up by the ruling BJP, followed by CPI(M) (43), Tipra Motha Party (42), Trinamool Congress (28), and Congress (13).

A total of 58 Independent candidates and 14 nominees from various smaller parties are also contesting the elections.

Around 31,000 polling personnel are on their way to their designated 3,327 polling stations in 2504 locations.

In all, 28.14 lakh voters including 13.99 lakh women electorate are eligible to cast their votes in Thursday's balloting.

A senior police officer said the Ministry of Home Affairs has provided 400 companies (30,000 security personnel) of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) comprising Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force while around 9,000 Tripura State Rifles jawans and over 6,000 Tripura police personnel have also been deployed to hold a fair and violence free elections.

"On the directions of the Election Commission, the authorities have further tightened the security along the 856 km long India-Bangladesh border with Tripura and inter-state borders with Assam and Mizoram," the official told IANS.

Votes will be counted on March 2.