Tripura Legislative Assembly Election 2023: Election to the 60-member Tripura Assembly will be held on Thursday and results will be declared on March 2. The north-eastern state is all set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, Congress and regional outfit Tipra Motha. While the BJP-IPFT coalition is seeking to retain its supremacy, the Left-Congress combine is looking to wrest power, and Tipra Motha is making its debut at the hustings after its stunning performance in the autonomous council polls.
A total of 28.13 lakh voters will be exercising their franchise tomorrow to decide the fate of 259 candidates, including 20 women, in fray.
The BJP is contesting in 55 assembly seats, and its ally IPFT has fielded candidates in six constituencies. In one seat, the two parties will be engaged in a friendly fight. The saffron party has fielded the highest number of women candidates at 12.
The CPI(M) is contesting 47 seats and the Congress 13 constituencies, while the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has fielded nominees in 28 constituencies. A total of 58 independent candidates are also contesting.
The high-decibel campaign for the Tripura assembly elections ended on Tuesday. Chief Minister Manik Saha held a roadshow at his assembly constituency Town Bardowali and also engaged in a door-to-door campaigning seeking votes in his favour.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gitte Kirankumar Dinakarrao said that elections will take place in 3,328 polling booths. Out of these, 1,100 are marked sensitive and 28 critical. As the campaigning ended, Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC were imposed, which prohibits assembly of five or more people.
The BJP saw party heavy-weights, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president J P Nadda, canvassing for their candidates, listing the benefits of the “double-engine government”. The party also organised ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’, rallies and road shows in the state.
In the 2023 election, the BJP-IPFT ally is facing a tough challenge from the Tipra Motha party, headed by erstwhile royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma. The Tipra Motha party will be contesting in 42 out of the 60 seats.
Debbarma single-handedly campaigned for his party, which decided to go solo after its demand for a separate state for indigenous people found no takers.
Meanwhile, the Left and Congress came together this election to take on the BJP. CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat and Mohammad Salim and Congress’ Adhir Chowdhury and Dipa Dasmunshi campaigned for their candidates. However, senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were not part of the campaigning.
