The Left kept reigning in Tripura even when other communist citadels in India’s east — West Bengal and a few pockets of Assam and Manipur — crumbled. That changed when the State took a right turn in March 2018.
The Left Front has been allegedly under siege since its 25-year rule was ended by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its regional ally, Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a year ago. Few are feeling the heat more than the State’s two MPs, Jitendra Choudhury and Shankar Prasad Dutta.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has renominated Mr. Choudhury (60) for the predominantly tribal Tripura East and Mr. Dutta (60) for the Bengali-dominated Tripura West constituency, each comprising 30 Assembly seats.
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The CPI(M) has been virtually unchallenged in Tripura since 1996 when it made the Congress, which ruled the State from 1988 to 1993, bite the dust. That year’s election marked the beginning of the slide of the Congress, eventually creating a political void for the BJP to fill after 2014.
The winds of paltai (let’s change) blew Manik Sarkar’s Left Front government away, and a reportedly eroding support base has put the CPI(M) under pressure.
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“A fear psychosis has created an abnormal situation in Tripura where democracy is being threatened every day,” Bijan Dhar, Left Front convener, said.
‘Lawless land’
“It is as if we are staying in a lawless land. Our people are being intimidated. I have been attacked at least seven times. It is difficult to hold party meetings unless the central paramilitary forces personnel create a ring of security around us,” Mr. Dutta said from Tripura’s capital Agartala.
The Congress, too, has accused the BJP and its affiliates of unleashing violence and creating an atmosphere of terror.
“They have attacked our candidate Subal Bhowmik (Tripura West). The BJP is using muscle power because the people have seen through the government’s fake promises and are turning towards the Congress,” Sridam Deb Barman, a senior Congress leader, said. Mr. Bhowmik, who was the BJP’s State vice-president, defected to the Congress a few days ago.
“The BJP rose in Tripura on the shoulders of leaders mostly borrowed from the Congress and Left parties. Now, people from the BJP, its ally IPFT and the CPI(M) are joining us, indicating that the Congress is emerging as a stronger opposition than the CPI(M). This has made us hopeful,” Mr. Deb Barman said.
The BJP, however, said the Congress was not a factor in the State. “A clash or two happens in every State during election. Grumbling when not in power is a communist habit. Some 50 people were killed in two months after the Left Front won the 2013 Assembly polls but there hasn’t been a single political death in the past year,” BJP spokesperson Ashok Sinha said.
According to election analyst J. Bhattacharjee, the fear factor and the patriotic spin to BJP’s campaign has seemingly put the party — despite its failure to deliver — on a stronger wicket than its rivals. “Another reason is the uncertainty about how strong the opposition is, though the Congress appears to have gained ground,” he said.
The BJP is “not losing sleep” over Mr. Bhowmik leaving the party. “People know he has been a party-hopper,” Mr. Sinha said, adding the BJP chose a deserving candidate in Pratima Bhoumik, 50, for the Tripura West seat.
The BJP’s candidate for the Tripura East seat is Rebati Tripura, 43. Apart from Mr. Choudhury of the CPI(M), his rivals include the 50-year-old Maharaj Kumari Pragya Debburman of the Congress.