Agartala (Tripura): Leaving out former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb from the fray presently, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced the names of 48 candidates for the 60 seats Tripura assembly on Saturday. With 21 new faces, 11 women, and two Muslim candidates on the list, the saffron camp also kept its room for negotiations open with its 2018 ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT).
Though the ruling party has allowed incumbent Chief Minister Manik Saha and his deputy Jishnu Devvarma to contest from their own seats -- Town Bardowali and Charilam ST reserved seats respectively -- the party has reserved the candidature of former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb. Deb stepped down suddenly as Chief Minister last year. BJP state president Rajiv Bhattacharjee will contest from Deb’s existing seat at Banamalipur.
Though the party has allowed 21 new faces, all the sitting ministers have been allowed to contest from their winning seats. Union MoS, Social Justice and Empowerment, Pratima Bhoumik has been given a ticket from Dhanpur, from where she has unsuccessfully contested against former CPI(M) Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in the past.
Also read: Tripura Assembly Poll: Congress announces 17 candidates for Feb 2023 Elections
This year BJP has fielded two Muslim candidates - Moboshwar Ali and Tafajjal Hossain. Ali who left the CPI(M) to join the BJP only on Friday, has been fielded from Kailashahar and Hossain will contest from Boxanagar. Tripura BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said all their candidates are "well-known names" in their areas, and the party was confident of victory as “ideology, role of the state and central governments and development were the main issues in the election”.
Asked about the alliance, a senior BJP leader said that at present, there was none but he also made it clear that in "politics anything can happen". The leader was referring to IPFT which had an alliance with BJP in 2018 and was instrumental in bringing the saffron brigade to power for the first time in Tripura. However, the Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma had said he will not forge an electoral alliance with any political party until a written assurance on 'greater Tipraland' is given to his regional party.
With a population of over 28 lakhs, Tripura will vote for 60 assembly seats on February 16, and results are to be out on March 2. The BJP will be hoping for a second term in office after unseating the decades-old CPM government in 2018.
Meanwhile, protests broke out in several parts of the state, as workers-supporters of the saffron party took to the streets in areas such as Kamalasagar assembly constituency in the Sepahijala district, the Chandipur Assembly constituency of the Unaktoi District, the Kadamtal-Kurti Assembly constituency of the North district, and in Bagbasa assembly constituency - all against candidates who have been given tickets.
Reports cited locals, as well as party workers, in Kamalasagar constituency oppose the candidature of Antara Deb Sarkar in favour of the party's popular face in the area, ‘Mandal’ president Subir Chowdhury. In Chandipur seat of Unaktoi district, on the other hand, protests erupted against BJP leader and state general secretary Tinku Roy, as supporters subsequently set fire to booth offices, burnt various documents and destroyed the party's campaign decorations.
