The Tripura Left Front has vowed to intensify its efforts to defeat the ruling BJP in the upcoming municipal and urban local body elections, despite the failure of seat-sharing negotiations with the Congress over internal differences within the latter party.
Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said on Tuesday that the Left Front had made sincere efforts to reach an electoral understanding with the Congress to prevent the division of anti-BJP votes. However, the discussions failed to produce a consensus.
Addressing the media, Chaudhury asserted that the absence of an alliance would not deter the Left Front from challenging the BJP in the upcoming civic elections.
“We will make every possible effort to ensure the BJP’s defeat,” he said.
Reacting to recent remarks by Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman, who had appreciated Chaudhury’s approach while alleging the existence of an invisible force within the CPI(M), the Left leader said he was unaware of the reasons behind the comments. He emphasised that political discussions should focus on the ground realities ahead of the elections.
Chaudhury said the possibility of an electoral understanding was first discussed at an INDIA bloc meeting held at the Assembly on October 24, which was attended by Roy Barman. According to him, the Congress MLA had indicated that the issue would be discussed at the next meeting following the October 30 programme.
During the INDIA bloc programme organised outside the Election Commission’s office on October 30, opposition leaders reiterated their commitment to preventing the BJP from benefiting politically in the forthcoming elections. Tripura Congress president Ashish Saha also addressed the gathering, while Chaudhury delivered the concluding speech.
Elaborating on the subsequent developments, Chaudhury said he and Saha travelled to Delhi on the same day but had separate engagements. No joint meeting was scheduled for November 1.
He said efforts were later initiated to facilitate seat-sharing discussions between the two parties. A meeting was subsequently held that night involving a representative of the Congress leadership, Saha and Congress spokesperson Prabir Chakraborty.
Chaudhury said he had to return to Agartala ahead of the November 2 nomination deadline. He later came to know that the Congress had sought 22 seats as part of the proposed arrangement.
The Left Front, he claimed, had also agreed to refrain from fielding candidates in some additional constituencies beyond those 22 seats. Accordingly, Left Front candidates filed nominations only in constituencies where an understanding had been reached and where the Congress had not staked a claim.
However, Chaudhury expressed surprise over several statements that appeared in the media after November 2. He said Roy Barman had not informed him about the developments, even during a subsequent conversation between them.
He maintained that the Left Front had pursued an alliance with the Congress in response to public expectations of a united opposition challenge against the BJP, particularly to prevent the splitting of anti-BJP votes.
The Left Front, comprising the CPI(M), CPI, RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI(ML), is contesting the civic elections as a united formation.
Chaudhury further said that seat-sharing discussions were not limited to Agartala but were also conducted at the local level for the remaining 20 urban local bodies across Tripura. However, despite negotiations continuing until the final hours of November 9, the talks eventually collapsed due to a lack of consensus within the Congress, he alleged.
He added that a successful seat-sharing arrangement could have strengthened the opposition’s challenge to the BJP in the Agartala Municipal Corporation and helped it mount a more coordinated electoral contest against the ruling party.