Agartala: The three major opposition parties of Tripura: TIPRA Motha, CPIM and Congress on Saturday held a closed-door meeting here in Agartala to discuss the roadmap of opposition unity ahead of the assembly by-elections in two politically crucial assembly constituencies.
A photo of the meeting that went viral on social media platforms featured CPIM state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury, Leader of the Opposition and senior TIPRA Motha legislator Animesh Debbarma, state Congress president Asish Saha and Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman and senior CPIM leader Manik Dey exchanging views.
When contacted, Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee President Asish Kumar Saha told EastMojo that the meeting marked the formal beginning of talks among the three parties on the common motive of opposition unity. “No political party wants to enter into the political contest alone because it may help the BJP score some brownie points. A united opposition might alter the calculation of the ruling party. A well-calibrated strategy with calculative risks can defeat the BJP in both seats,” said Saha.
According to Saha, more rounds of talks are yet to be conducted before arriving at a conclusion agreed by all. “Hopefully, the picture will be clear in the next two days”, the TPCC President informed EastMojo.
Leader of the Opposition Animesh Debbarma, on the other hand, said that the meeting was for a discussion between CPIM and Congress, his party was also invited to the meeting.
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“I don’t possess any decision-making power in the party. I was there to listen to what CPIM and Congress leaders have spoken about the opposition unity. My next responsibility is to make my party leaders aware of the proposals made by Congress and CPIM leaders to keep the opposition front united. The sole objective of the meeting is to prevent any split in opposition vote share,” said Debbarma.
According to Debbarma, the 2023 assembly election results pinpointed the aspirations of voters but due to some electoral miscalculations, BJP retained power. “The BJP got less than 40 per cent votes but still managed to retain power. On the other hand, the opposition bloc had bagged more than 60 per cent of the votes but fell short of the magic figures. The voting patterns have made it clear what people want,” said Debbarma.
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