Tripura Assembly Election: This time it is Leading Left Front-CPI(M) vs Bhartiya Janta Party

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), a communist party that loomed after a spilled from the Communist Party of India in 1964. A party that was formed in seventh Congress of the CPI who's fortitude is well seen in the state of Kerala, West Bengal, and Tripura. India's leading left front has been ruling in Tripura since 1978 with a five-year break in 1988-1993, along with Congress-led coalition ruled. Serving as Chief Minister Since 1998, ManikSarkar is one of the longest-serving state chiefs in the country.

An innumerable media report stated the long tenure of the enjoyment of the Left Front in the state. The Left Front has been through a lot of ups and downs in its long-term governance in the state. A state with the population of tribals and non-tribal have at odds with each other in the state and the ethnic tension along with a demand for autonomy of tribal regions have been deciding factors in the political history of Tripura since the 1940s. The leading left front demanded a separate state engraved out for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council areas that constitute two-thirds of the state territory which is the home to the tribal who form one-third of the population.

According to DailyO, a large number of people migrated in Tripura post-partition and Bangladesh's independence. The majority of the tribal population has supported the Left Front and also ensured that a third of Tripura's Assembly is reserved for its tribal population. However, BJP has shown its full fledge move in participation in the state assembly after announcing its alliance with IPFT. "After a series of discussions, the BJP and the IPFT (NC Debbarma faction) formed an alliance to fight unitedly against the ruling Left," Assam minister HimantaBiswaSarma, also the BJP in-charge of the Tripura elections, told the media.

In a state of 60 assembly constituencies, BJP will field its 51 candidates and 9 of IPFT. "If any leader of other parties is keen to enter this alliance, he or she has to contest on BJP's lotus symbol," he added. In last state elections held in 2013, The CPI(M) bagged 49 seats and emerged as a winner and CPI won only 1 seat. While Congress managed to secure 10 seats but unfortunately lost ground after tying up with the Left in West Bengal. The hurricanes of Trinamool Congress to expand itself in Tripura led the party to suffer heavily from defections of the top leaders. This gave the BJP to challenge to the Left government in this state assembly elections.

The BJP has never left a chance to attack against the CPI with its party president Amit Shah saying, a regime change in Tripura had become inevitable as the incumbent government had failed on many fronts, including combating crimes against women and unemployment. The party also claimed that the state has failed to develop a quick enough pace in the state in spite of long and state rule, according to a report in Hindustan Times. The state ruled by Left Front is diminished in certain development parameters, such as health, employment, and women safety.

The Party looking forward to expanding its base nationwide is now heading towards North-East and grew-up as CPI(M) biggest competitor in this state election. Also in the fray, this year is the AamAadmi Party (AAP) which has declared that it will contest the assembly elections.

The party's morale will also be sustained by its membership numbers which have risen from 15,000 before the LokSabha election in 2014 to over 2 lakh by the end of 2016. This is an increase of 14 times in three years.

"The Congress was not serious about fighting the CPI(M)" Sudip Roy Burman, former state Congress president and an MLA who had joined the BJP, said and claimed that the BJP would defeat the Marxists in the Assembly poll.

Congress candidates have filed from 59 constituencies. Trinamool Congress has nominated 24 candidates. Near about 297 candidates, including 20 women, are in the fray for the February 18 Tripura Assembly polls, an official said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is one of the largest political parties in India both in the national parliament and state assemblies. Currently, the party is ruing in 19 states of the country. It will be immense confront for NDA to vie CPI(M) a long-serving party in Tripura. 

Date of elections: February 18

Counting of votes: March 3

Last assembly election results:

Chief Minister – ManikSarkar
Total seats – 60
CPI(M) – 49
Congress – 10
CPI – 1