Tripura goes to polls on Saturday
Kishalay Bhattacharjee
Friday, February 22, 2008, ((Joynagar) Tripura)
Tripura goes to polls on Saturday and the opposition Congress alleges that the Left is Tripura's new royalty.
However, when NDTV travelled to remote areas in the state, the sense was that it might be tough to dislodge the CPI(M) from here.
Red is the colour of this political season in a mixed tribal village not far from Tripura's capital Agartala.
Debnath, a CPI(M) party worker is the village head. He said that the tribals support the Left parties because it brought education in the region.
"We were kept uneducated because royalty knew if we were educated, the King wouldn't be able to run his subjects," said R Debnath, village head.
"It was tragic the way our parents suffered before the Left came. When they died, they told us to support the CPI(M) so we blindly supported them. That's all," said Chandramohan Jamatiya.
Manik Sarkar, CPI(M) chief minister fighting for a third term is not worried about a setback. What will go in his favour is the downswing in insurgency.
"We've been able to contain them but there is no room for any complacency, they are still in Bangladesh. ISI is fostering them, nurturing them and CIA is also helping them," said Manik Sarkar, CM, Tripura.
The Congress's pre-poll alliance with a former separatist organisation Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) is the Left front's main line of attack.
"INPT is an advocate and an extension of the extremist organisation in Tripura. It is for the INC to answer the people of Tripura why it is entering into such an opportunist alliance. It shows how far the Congress can go to score narrow political points over the Left Front," said Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPI(M).
The Congress is even more vitriolic in its counter attack.
"They manipulate but this time they won't be able to terrorise people. They rig, who is abetting terrorism in Tripura, it's them. It is utter nonsense what they've said," said Sudip Roy Burman, Congress leader.
But for now, the CPI(M) appears to hold sway.
What makes the Left tick in Tripura? It all began with the tribal rebellion in the 40's, which continued till the early 80's as a reaction against the royalty.
Even today they return to power primarily on tribal votes, but are the tribals any better off under the 'red brigade'? Whether or not the Left surges ahead.