Hyderabad: Once considered to be a red citadel and now a saffron forte, Tripura is going for the polls today. With an electorate size of around 28 lakh, Tripura might not contribute significantly to the political numbers of BJP but it is definitely a prestige fight for Narendra Modi-Amit Shah brigade.
As a run-up to the Parliamentary election next year, the nine states that are going for the polls in 2023, in this third smallest state of the country, is first and most significant because it is a gateway to BJP’s ‘Looking East’ propaganda. Naturally the saffron brigade will definitely try to hold back its bastion not only in this 60 member legislative assembly but also in Nagaland and Meghalaya that is going for the polls on the 27th of this month.
28 lakh eligible voters- According to official records more than 28 lakh people – nearly half of them female - will exercise their franchise in 3,337 polling stations across the state. There are 97 polling stations that are completely managed by women, 44 are managed by PwD (Person with Disability) and 88 are declared as model polling stations.
Terrain- Tripura not only has a geographical and linguistic proximity with West Bengal but the political demography also bears similarity with its neighbouring state. It also shares border with Assam and Mizoram. Tripura, with an area of 10,491.69 sq km is surrounded by Bangladesh from three directions. After West Bengal (about 2200 sq km), this north-eastern state shares the largest border (856 sq km) with neighbouring Bangladesh.
Security- The Election Commission (EC) has made heavy security arrangements to ensure a free and fair poll. According to sources in the commission, all the booths – sensitive or otherwise - will be managed by the paramilitary forces. The deployment of state police in the polling station will be limited to maintain queues. The EC has already sealed the state’s border with Bangladesh, Assam and Mizoram. The counting of votes will take place on March 2, along with Meghalaya and Nagaland and the results will be announced on March 2.
Saffron surge- Interestingly enough, like West Bengal, Tripura was also ruled by the CPI (M) for decades but in 2018 the meteoric rise of BJP ended the left rule after 35 years bearing similarity with West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee single handedly ended 35 years of Left Front rule.
BJP that was eying for this North- Eastern state failed to get a single seat from 1983 to 2013 but in 2018, the saffron brigade bagged not only 36 of the 60 seats in the assembly but its vote share had a whooping increase of 43.5 percent. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won both parliamentary constituencies in the state and came first in 51 of the 60 Assembly segments relegating the Left to minnows in state politics.
Enter Trinamool- With the entry of Trinamool Congress into the election fray of the state that mainly made a dent in the traditional vote bank of Left and Congress, BJP is in an advantageous position in the state but the party might get a beating because of its internal rivalry. Owing to the decreasing popularity of former chief minister Biplab Deb, the party replaced him with Manik Saha. Deb, who was even denied a ticket in the first list of candidates announced by the party, might not be considered for the post of the chief minister of the state saffron brigade. Now it will be interesting to watch how Modi-Shah duo handles the resentment within the party.
