Manik Saha suddenly got a lot of tasks in hand when BJP made him CM of Tripura last year, barely nine months before the Assembly elections. There was a fear of anti-incumbency and a united CPI(M) and Congress in the Opposition ahead of the polls.
But the steps Saha and his team had taken since then, perhaps helped BJP convince its voters and retain power for the second term in a row in Tripura, where results of the Assembly elections were announced on Thursday. The tally of BJP and its ally IPFT decreased by 11 seats, from 44 in 2018 to 33 this time. But the party managed to stop the Opposition CPI(M)-Congress combine from coming back to power.
“The credit goes to our PM Narendra Modi and his concern for Tripura. The people have voted us to power again due to the development we have done and the good governance we have provided,” Saha told reporters at Agartala after the poll results.
Saha is likely to be sworn in as the next CM.
Although Saha attributed BJP’s success to the developmental works, Sekhar Datta, a senior journalist in Agartala told DH that apart from its works, the failure of the Opposition CPI(M)-Congress combine to transfer their votes in several seats and polarization of tribal and non-tribal votes over Tipraland issue favored BJP retain power. “Congress failed to convince their supporters to vote for the CPI(M) candidates in several seats even as they entered into a seat-sharing arrangement for the first time in Tripura,” he said.
“Also in several unreserved seats and in some others reserved for the Scheduled Castes, Tipra Motha negated victory for the CPI(M) and Congress by fielding SC candidates,” Datta said. Tipra Motha contested in 42 seats but won only 13 seats reserved for the STs.
“The CPI(M) has a strong support base among the SC candidates belonging to the Bengali Hindus in some seats but Tipra Motha played spoilsports by putting up their SC candidates,” he said. CPI(M)’s tally came down from 16 in 2018 to 13 this time while Congress bagged three seats.