Tripura Votes Amid Tight Security, BJP Fights To Retain Power
Tripura Elections 2023: Polling for the 60-member assembly has begun and the fate of over 250 candidates will be sealed in the voting machines.
New Delhi: Voting for the 60-member assembly in Tripura has begun and the fate of 259 candidates will be locked in the polling machines on Thursday.
According to Election Commission, over 28.14 lakh electorates of which 14,15,233 are male voters, 13,99,289 are woman voters and 62 are of the third gender, are eligible to cast their franchise in the elections, reported ANI.
Tight security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polls in the state. ANI report mentioned that the state has 97 all-women-managed police stations. It has 94,815 voters in the 18-19 age group and 6,21,505 in the 22-29 age group. The highest number of voters are in the 40-59 age group at 9,81,089.
A total of 3,337 polling stations have been set up in the state for the smooth conduct of the voting. Of these, 1,100 booths have been identified as sensitive and 28 as critical, reported PTI citing Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gitte Kirankumar Dinakarrao.
The ruling BJP is facing a tough challenge from the Left and new entrant Tipra Motha. The saffron party is looking for another tenure in the state amid a triangular contest.
Notably, Congress and CPI(M), which have been arch rivals for years, came together and formed a pre-poll alliance to defeat the ruling BJP.
BJP Looking To Retain Power
The BJP which is looking to retain its power is contesting in alliance with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) and the Tipra Motha, which is being seen as a kingmaker in case of a hung assembly scenario, emerged as an influential regional party floated by the royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma in 2021.
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.
Tipra Motha has fielded candidates on 42 seats. The ruling BJP has fielded the highest number of women candidates with 12.
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.
Tribal voters are the deciding factor in one-third seats (20) of the assembly. In 2018, BJP won 10 of these 20 seats.
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" government.
In its manifesto, BJP promised cooked food at Rs 5, a bond of Rs 50,000 to each EWS family on the birth of a girl child, two free LPG cylinders to the beneficiaries of PM Ujjwala Yojana, land pattas to all eligible landless citizens and financial assistance of Rs 3,000 per year to landless farmers. The party has also promised more autonomy to the tribal areas.
The Left & Congress Alliance
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, an annual hike in wages, security of livelihood for Anganwadi and ASHA workers, free electricity till 50 units, and a hike in MSP rates for paddy procurement.
Challenge From Tipra Motha
The poll plank of Tipra Motha is the '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 the creation of a separate tribal state.
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