Tripura Votes On Thursday, BJP Faces Stiff Challenge From Left And New Entrant Tipra Motha. Key Points

Tripura Election: Tripura is set to witness a triangular fight this time, with BJP seeking to retain the state amid a stiff challenge from the Left-Congress combine and regional outfit Tipra Motha.

Tripura CM Manik Saha, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma and CPIM leader and tribal stalwart Jitendra Chaudhury

Source : PTI

The BJP will hope to win Tripura for the second consecutive time as the northeastern state goes to polls on Thursday even though it faces a stiff challenge from the CPI(M)-Congress combine and new entrant Tipra Motha, headed by former royal family's scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma. Votes will be counted on March 2.

In the 2018 Assembly election, BJP, which never won a seat in Tripura, ended the 27-year rule of CPI(M) and formed the government by bagging 36 seats in the 60-member Assembly. While BJP received just 1.54 per cent of votes in 2013, the vote share jumped to over 43 per cent in 2018 -- a result credited mainly to the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Over 28 lakh voters, including 13.53 lakh women, will decide the fate of 259 aspirants. Tribal voters are the deciding factor in one-third seats (20) of the assembly. In 2018, BJP had won 10 of these 20 seats.

READ | May Claim Stake To Form Govt In Case Of Deadlock Post Poll, Says Tipra Motha President

Tripura To Vote On February 16: All You Need To Know

• The BJP is contesting in 55 seats, while its ally IPFT has fielded candidates in six constituencies. The CPI(M), which secured 42 per cent of the popular vote in 2018, is contesting in 47 seats while Congress is fighting in 13 constituencies. The Trinamool Congress has fielded nominees in 28 constituencies.
• Top candidates fighting the elections are Chief Minister Manik Saha, BJP's nominee from the Town Bardowali constituency, Union minister Pratima Bhowmik, who is contesting from Dhanpur, and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chadudhury, who has been fielded from the Sabroom seat. Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Deb Varma, another member of the erstwhile royal family, is the BJP candidate from the Charilam.
• During campaigning, BJP, which fielded its top leaders like Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighted the development that has taken place in Tripura in the last five years due to the "double engine" govenment.
• In its manifesto, BJP has promised cooked food at Rs 5, bond of Rs 50,000 to each EWS family on birth of a girl child, two free LPG cylinders to the beneficiaries of PM Ujjwala Yojana, land pattas to all eligible landless citizens and a financial assistance of Rs 3,000 per year to landless farmers. The party has also promised more autonomy to the tribal areas.
• The Left Front and the Congress, during its campaigns, stressed on "misrule and misgovernance" of the BJP-IPFT government and accused it of "tearing the secular fabric of Tripura" by citing communal incidents.
• While there has been no formal announcement, the Left Front and Congress have agreed on veteran CPI(M) leader and tribal stalwart Jitendra Chaudhury as the chief ministerial face for the alliance in Tripura. 
• The Left Front has promised 2.5 lakh jobs, 200 days of work, annual hike in wages, security of livelihood for Anganwadi and ASHA workers, free electricity till 50 units, and hike in MSP rates for paddy procurement.
• The poll plank of Tipra Motha is 'Greater Tipraland' statehood demand. The regional party swept the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections held in April last year, winning 18 of the 28 seats.
• In its manifesto, the Pradyot Debbarma-led party kept the 'Greater Tipraland' issue as its core agenda and listed 15 promises, including a resolution against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Assembly.
• The Tipra Motha may emerge as a kingmaker in case of a hung Assembly. The regional party has said it would give outside support to any party or alliance if they agree "on paper and on the floor of the House" to Tipra Motha's demand for creation of a separate tribal state.