Agartala: The seat-sharing agreement between the CPI-M and Congress has led to disaster for both parties that had hoped to defeat the BJP.
The CPI-M and Congress have fielded candidates for 56 seats but were able to win only one-third of them. TIPRA Motha has scored almost the same, as it alone has fielded candidates in 42 seats and won 13 seats.
Though the senior leaders of both parties, like CPI-M state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury and former BJP minister and Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman, have won leaders like Pabitra Kar, Sanjoy Das, and Kaushik Chanda, in another place where CPI-M and Congress have fielded candidates, they lost miserably because of the TIPRA Motha vote that got divided.
BJP has won 32 seats, while CPI-M won 11, and Congress succeeded in winning 3 seats.
However, with the eroded force in the hill, the BJP’s ally IPFT has been able to secure victory in Julaibari, which has been considered a stronghold of communists.
In tribal areas, both CPI-M and Congress face tough challenges because of TIPRA Motha, as the party is already in power in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC), which has almost vanquished all other parties from the hills.
It believes that the alliance of the Left and Congress was rejected by the voters, and they opted for TIPRA Motha as a choice against the BJP, even in non-tribal seats.
With the counting of EVMs, it emerges clearly that Motha has harmed the opposition Congress and CPI (M) much more than the ruling BJP.
The ‘Motha’ supremo had called upon his party workers and supporters not to divide the opposition vote with the aim of stopping the BJP on track, but it appears from the poll results that it was reversed, alleged Congress leader Prasanta Bhattacharjee.
“In several other constituencies, Motha played the spoiler for the opposition, which will be clearer only after the final results are out,” said CPI-M leader Ratan Das, adding that at least 15 CPM and Congress candidates lost by a narrow margin due to the scoring of Motha.
