Among the talking points in the upcoming Tripura elections is the seat-sharing alliance between former arch-rivals – the Left and the Congress.
There were initial hiccups as the Left conceded 13 seats to the Congress, keeping 47 for itself. While the Congress, desirous of getting 17 seats, expressed displeasure, after several rounds of meetings, an agreement was reached on the formula.
Both the Left and the Congress are now in the fray together.
News18 visited key constituencies to check the mood of workers of both the parties after the seat-sharing was announced.
Charilam: CPI(M) seat given to Congress
The current MLA from the Charilam constituency in West Tripura is Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Burman of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 2018, he defeated the CPIM by over 25,000 votes. The CPIM had won this seat in 2013, but this time the seat has gone to the Congress.
News18 was stopped by the CPIM party office in Bisramganj Charilam, whose windows were smashed, and cadres stood outside.
Asked about the seat-sharing, CPIM’s Arun Barman smiled and said, “It is fine. This was needed because we have lost to the Congress. We have no choice but to live together.
Other colleagues also felt the same way.
Last time CPI(M)’s Palash Deb Barman lost to BJP. When Palash was asked whether he felt bad for not getting the ticket, his answer was vague. “These things are decided by the leadership. What can we say? We will do whatever the party tells us.”
Even though the cadre felt bad, no one expressed their dissatisfaction on record.
Agartala: Sudip Roy Burman’s campaign
The next stop was Agartala, which was won six times by Congress strongman Sudip Roy Barman, who lost to the BJP last time.
The campaign had mixed colours. A young Pulak Deb Barman was wearing a CPIM cap and a Congress scarf. “I am from the Congress, but I am wearing the CPIM cap. They made our life hell for years, but our condition is even worse because BJP is dangerous. An enemy of an enemy is a friend.
Pulak Dey, a CPIM cadre, was on a bike with two different flags. When asked how she felt about the alliance, she said aggressively: “We have to remove the jumlas, that’s why we have joined hands.”
In Bengal, however, the scenario is different. Congress workers are off the record saying that their leaders have not been given tickets in various districts and this is a ploy by the Left to eat up the Congress.
Sudip Roy Burman said that he had no choice. “If someone says that I have sold the Congress to the CPIM, it is okay because we want to defeat the BJP. For us Janata is more important than the party.
On the other hand, CPIM state secretary Jiten Chowdhary told News18, “People have formed this alliance and we will go with it. People want BJP to be thrown out of power. Everyone is happy with the seat-sharing.”
numberspeak
In 2018, while the Left got 44 per cent votes, the Congress got two per cent votes. This explains why more seats could not be given to the Congress.
Will unhappiness among workers affect the results? We’ll know on March 2.
read all latest politics news Here