Tripura elections 2023: Voting to elect the 60-member assembly on February 16. see details here

In the state elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its ally the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT); Congress-CPI(M), All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), Tipra Motha to secure majority for themselves in the 60-member assembly.

The BJP is contesting on 55 seats while its ally IPFT is contesting on the remaining five seats. Tipra Motha is going solo and has decided to contest 42 out of 60 seats in Tripura. There are about 20 tribal-dominated seats, and they hold the key to power in the northeastern state. The CPI(M) will contest 43 seats, and its Left Front allies Forward Bloc, RSP and CPI will contest one seat each. The Congress will contest on 13 seats, the Trinamool Congress on 28, while there are 58 independent candidates.

Analysts expect it to be a triangular election, with the Left-Congress alliance re-emerging in the state and newcomer Tipra Motha getting wide support in tribal areas.

TIPRA Motha has released its manifesto promising to fight for a ‘Greater Tipraland’. The party, headed by former royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma, decided to go it alone in the elections, but did not rule out a post-poll alliance with any party that supports a separate state ‘Greater Tipraland’ for the indigenous population. Is.

Talking about the last assembly elections held in 2018, the BJP came to power with 36 seats, half of which were won from tribal areas. The BJP secured 43.59 per cent vote share in 2018, compared to the CPI(M)’s 42.22 per cent votes and the Congress’ 2 per cent, with most of the BJP’s gains at the expense of the Congress.

With the rise of TIPRA Motha, a major chunk of the 20 tribal seats are expected to switch allegiance. While in the plains, where most non-tribals live, anti-incumbency and law and order issues could dent the ruling party’s tally.

Expressing confidence that the BJP will get an absolute majority in the state, Amit Shah said the BJP is seeking a mandate to make the state prosperous in the next five years on the development initiatives of the party-led government.

Shah said that the constituencies in Tripura are small and “you will see that before 12 noon on the day of counting, the BJP will have crossed the majority mark”. Shah said the joining hands of the Congress and the CPI(M) showed that they were in no position to defeat the BJP on their own and it was a very good situation for the party. Shah also said that PM Modi has visited the region 51 times during the last eight years and has ended the alienation that prevailed in the Northeast.

Major Constituencies and Players in Tripura Assembly Elections

CM Manik Saha has filed his nomination His nomination will be against Ashish Kumar Saha of Congress from Town Borodovali assembly constituency. Manik Saha had replaced Biplab Kumar Deb as the new chief minister in less than a year, with the state going into the crucial elections. The chief minister took over in the 2022 by-election after Ashish Kumar Saha resigned from the post. Three influential BJP MLAs – Sudip Roy Barman, Ashish Kumar Saha and Dibachandra Harangkhawal – resigned from the state assembly and joined the Congress. Meanwhile, Dr CM Saha is the second richest candidate 13.90 crore assets, ADR state coordinator Bisvendu Bhattacharjee told PTI.

Sudip Roy Burman from Agartala constituency: Congress’s Sudip Roy Barman files his nomination papers from Agartala constituency in Tripura. He will face BJP’s Papiya Dutta. Burman held the constituency since 1998, winning four consecutive elections on a Congress ticket. He had joined BJP in 2018 and won from the same constituency. He later quit the party in February 2022 and joined the Congress.

Pratima Bhowmik from Dhanpur: BJP has fielded Union Minister Pratima Bhowmik from Dhanpur. She is the first Tripura resident and second woman from the North East to become a Union Minister. Amiya Dayal Noatia has been given ticket from Tipra Motha.

Rajeev Bhattacharya from Banamalipur constituency: Tripura BJP state president Rajeev Bhattacharya will contest from Biplab Dev’s seat in Banamalipur this time. TMC’s Shantanu Saha has been fielded against him.

Jitendra Chowdhary from Sabroom constituency: CPI(M) state general secretary Jitendra Chowdhary has been fielded from Sabroom constituency. He has been in the party since 1993. In 1993, he won the Tripura election from Manu ST constituency. He served as Minister of Forests and Industries, Commerce, Sports from 1993–1998 under the ministry of Dasharatha Deb. Later, from 1998-2014, he was also the Minister of Forest and Industry, Commerce, Sports in the Ministry of Manik Sarkar. He won the 2014 general election from Tripura East (Lok Sabha constituency) and became a member of the 16th Lok Sabha from Tripura.

Meanwhile, out of a total of 259 candidates contesting the February 16 Tripura Assembly elections, 45 are crorepatis, according to ADR reports. The ruling BJP has 17 crorepati candidates, Tipra Motha nine and CPI(M) seven, Congress six, TMC four and two independents are also crorepatis.

BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, contesting from Charilam constituency, is the richest candidate with movable and immovable assets worth Rs 15.58 crore. CM Manik Saha is on the second number 13.90 crore assets, ADR state coordinator Bisvendu Bhattacharjee told PTI on Wednesday. In third place is Abhijeet Sarkar of Tipra Motha. 12.57 crores.

He said, “Out of the total candidates for the upcoming elections, 41 (16 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In the 2018 elections, 22 (7 per cent) out of 297 candidates had declared criminal cases. ” Seven out of 13 Congress candidates (54 per cent) have criminal cases while nine out of 55 BJP candidates have criminal cases. Of the 43 Left Front candidates, nine (16 per cent) have criminal cases. Eight candidates have declared cases related to attempt to murder.”

Out of total 259 candidates, 65 are graduates, 55 are class 12 pass and 39 are matriculate. The ADR report states that thirty-six candidates are class 8 pass and nine are class 5 pass.

To ensure free and fair assembly elections in Tripura, the international border and interstate borders with Bangladesh will be sealed from Monday, Tripura Gitte Kirankumar Dinkarrao, a Chief Electoral Officer, officially told PTI on Monday. “The international border with Bangladesh and the interstate borders with Assam and Mizoram will be sealed from Monday following the instructions of the Election Commission,” he said. Polling in other northeastern states of Meghalaya and Nagaland will be held on February 27.

(with inputs from agencies)