CPI(M)-Congress, Tipra Motha seek to thwart BJP bid to retain power in Tripura

Unlike the past elections, there is no perceptible wave for any party or alliance this time 

A triangular contest—between the BJP, the Left Front-Congress combine and new entrant Tipra Motha—is on the cards in a majority of the 60 Assembly seats in Tripura, which goes to the polls on February 16. 

Of these 60 seats, 20 straddling a tribal council are reserved for the State’s 19 Scheduled Tribes, while 10 are reserved for the Scheduled Castes. 

Unlike in past elections, there does not seem to be a “wave” of support for any party or alliance this time, making the 2023 mandate unpredictable for both the general voter and the poll pundit. 

The BJP, seeking to retain power along with its current ally, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), is contesting 55 seats. The IPFT is contesting the remaining five seats, all in the tribal domain. 

The Left Front headed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which struck a seat-sharing deal with the Congress to eject the BJP, is contesting 47 constituencies. The Congress was allotted 13 seats. 

The new tribal party Tipra Motha, headed by Tripura’s royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, has fielded candidates in 42 constituencies, followed by the Trinamool Congress in 28.