Tripura re-elects BJP, newly formed outfit comes 2nd

The Bharatiya Janata Party-Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura alliance on Thursday returned to power in Tripura winning 33 seats in the 60-member assembly on Thursday.

The Tipra Motha, formed by former scion of the state's princely family Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, bagged 13 seats, while the Left-Congress alliance secured 14, with Debbarma's party eating into the Left's tribal votes.

The Trinamool Congress performed poorly winning none of the 28 seats it contested. Its vote share (0.88 per cent) came to less than that of those who stamped None-Of-The-Above (NOTA).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah thanked the people for voting for progress and stability, while the CPI-M politburo said the Left Front will work with renewed commitment and energy to defend the interests of the people.

Though the coalition of the BJP and the IPFT returned to power for a second time, both parties secured fewer seats when compared to their performance in 2018, mainly as Tipra Motha performed well in the tribal hinterland. The alliance had won 43 seats in the 2018 election.

The saffron party contested in 55 seats and won 32, three less than what it bagged in 2018. The party also secured 38.97 per cent of the votes polled. The IPFT, which was affected by a factional fight, managed to emerge victorious in only one seat, while it had got eight seats five years back. Its vote share this time was a meagre 1.26 per cent. According to the Election Commission, the BJP had a vote share of around 39 per cent.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist lost power in 2018 after ruling the northeastern state for 25 years by winning only 16 seats last time round. This time they contested in 47 seats and won 11, with a vote share of 24.62 per cent. Other Left parties -- Forward Bloc, CPI and RSP -- failed to open their account.

Fielding candidates in 13 constituencies, the Congress won three, bagging a vote share of 8.56 per cent.

”The BJP's victory was expected, we were eagerly waiting for it. Our responsibility has been increased with the decisive mandate,” said outgoing Chief Minister Manik Saha who came to the state's top post in May last year replacing Biplab Kumar Deb.

”Thank you, Tripura! This is a vote for progress and stability. @BJP4Tripura will continue to boost the state's growth trajectory,” Modi tweeted.

In a Twitter post, Shah said, ”It is evident again that for development and prosperity, BJP led by PM @narendramodi is people's preference.”

The CPI-M politburo in a statement said, it ”congratulates the thousands of cadres and workers of the CPI-M and Left Front who, after braving the repression unleashed on them in the past five years, came forward courageously to conduct the election campaign and to reach out to the people, whom they had been deprived of meeting for a long time.”

The CPI-M West Bengal secretary Mohammed Salim alleged that the TMC fought in those Tripura seats where the Left party had good prospects.

The BJP, which had never won a single seat in Tripura before 2018, stormed to power in the last election in alliance with IPFT and ousted the Left Front which had been in power in the border state for 35 years, since 1978.