Agartala: Putting all speculations to rest, Congress and CPIM, two major opposition parties of Tripura, on Friday gave their growing proximity a formal shape as top leaders of both parties met at the CPIM state headquarters. The meeting was said to be on seat sharing and electoral collaboration for the 2023 Assembly polls.
Congress CWC member and AICC appointed in-charge for Tripura Dr Ajoy Kumar on Friday evening reached CPIM state headquarters to meet Jitendra Chowdhury, the state Chief of the principal opposition party in Tripura. While Dr Kumar was flanked by TPCC spokesman Prasanta Bhattacharjee, senior CPIM Congress MLA Sundhan Das and Left Front Convenor Narayan Kar were present in the meeting that lasted for around one hour.
Neither the CPIM nor the Congress divulged anything on what transpired in the meeting but both the leaders instead took the diplomatic route and maintained that Congress and CPIM were ready to fight the polls together to respect the opinion of the public.
The meeting is also seen as the first official sitting of the Congress and CPIM leadership to decide the fate of the new political formation on the cards.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, CPIM state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury said, “People of the state are witness to the murderous misrule of the BJP. They have crossed all limits. The democratic voices have been stifled. Every voice that was raised against them had been silenced. This is why Congress and CPIM have decided to fight the elections together. It would be wrong if people think this alliance is a decision driven by political interest of CPIM and Congress. This is the demand of people.”
According to Chowdhury, things are still in the initial stage and would soon take final shape.
“We are not in the conclusive stage of discussions. Both the parties have expressed their desires and this meeting can be seen as a formal beginning of the talks. Both the parties are expressing their views with an open heart and both the sides believe more than fielding candidates in maximum number of seats the primary objective is to ensure BJP’s defeat,” said Chowdhury.
Congress in-charge Dr Ajay Kumar, on the other hand, compared the BJP government with “Mafia Raj” and claimed that people of Tripura were ready for a change.
“In a state where rape of a 16-year-old minor girl is common, where police do not register a complaint if FIR contain names of BJP leaders, where a 76-year-old person is killed just for his political affiliation and law and order situation keeps hitting new low every time, people must expect a political change of guard. And, we want to be the change here. The CPIM and Congress come under the same platform to protect the rights of people and restore the order of the constitution,” he added.
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On the role of TIPRA in the alliance, Chowdhury said, “TIPRA is also in talks with the Congress and CPIM. He is absent because of his health condition but hopefully he will soon join the talks physically with both the opposition parties.”
Sources in the CPIM said a committee has been formed to finalize the terms of the alliance and seat adjustment matrix. A meeting with TIPRA is also scheduled on January 16 next.
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