Tarun Khanna
The last bastion of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tripura, is once again set to chose between the two main contestants in the state, the CPM and the Congress.
Although CPI(M) has lost its grip over West Bengal and Kerala, Tripura remains the party`s stronghold. This was quite evident from the results of the Assembly polls held in the state last year. Out of 60 Assembly constituencies, CPI(M) won 49 seats, reducing Congress to just 10 seats while CPI won 1 seat. Moreover, the state witnessed a record voter turnout of more than 92%.
The state is expected to follow a similar pattern when Lok Sabha polls are held on April 7 in Tripura West and April 12 in Tripura East.
Tripura East is reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (ST). The state is represented by a single member in the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier the Congress had some sway in the state but that receded after CPI(M) started gaining in strength mainly by organising government employees through its powerful front organisation `Tripura Employees Co-ordination Committee` (TECC).
The Left Front has been in power since 1978 barring one term (1988-1993) when the Congress and Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti formed a winning coalition.
Out of the fifteen elections held in Tirpura`s two Lok Sabha seats, the Marxists have convincingly won the East Tripura seat eleven times while the West Tripura seat has gone to Marxists ten times. The anti-incumbency factor hardly matters in the state.
From 1996, the two Lok Sabha seats from the state are being represented by the CPI(M). Baju Ban Riyan, a CPI(M) leader, has been a sitting MP from 1996 till date in Tripura East. On the other hand, CPI(M) with names like Badal Choudhury, Samar Choudhury and Khagen Das has been winning Lok Sabha polls from Tripura West. The party has now announced the names of Sankar Prasad Datta and Jitendra Chowdhury who will be replacing Lok Sabha veterans Baju Ban Riyan and Khagen Das in 2014 polls.
Meanwhile, BJP has fielded Sudhindra Dasgupta from Tripura West and Parikshit Debbarma from Tripura East. Whether BJP will be able to cut down Congress votes after Modi`s Nav Chetna rally in the state, is still unpredictable.
Congress too has fielded Arunoday Saha from West Tripura and Sachitra Debbarma from East Tripura.
The major poll issues are high unemployment and lack of basic amenities like drinking water, roads etc. Moreover, even as insurgency in Tripura has been curbed to a huge extent in the last decade, it is still a cause of concern for the electorate.
