Tripura: CPI(M) alleges TIPRA secretly helped BJP win assembly poll in the state

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPIM state committee secretary, Jitendra Chaudhury, has accused TIPRA Motha of secretly assisting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in winning the recent assembly election in Tripura.

In a press conference held on April 20, Chaudhury, who is also a CPIM MLA, claimed that despite the CPIM and Congress having an understanding for seat-sharing to challenge the ruling BJP, TIPRA Motha fielded candidates in over 20 seats, ultimately benefiting the BJP.

"We had seat sharing with Congress and also tried to share the same with TIPRA Motha, as both Congress and Motha have raised voices against BJP's rule. But in the end, our understanding with TIPRA Motha did not succeed. Even after speaking against BJP, TIPRA Motha has fielded candidates for over 20 seats, and the reason is unknown, but it is clear now after the results. TIPRA Motha has secretly helped BJP come into power to fulfill their 'constitutional solution'. Otherwise, there were no possibilities of BJP coming back to power again," claimed Chaudhury.

He further alleged that TIPRA Motha played a dual role, claiming BJP as their enemy but secretly assisting them, which went against the people who were demanding freedom from BJP's misrule.

Chaudhury also accused BJP of using tribal communities as a political weapon to win elections.

"The political vision and ideology of the BJP government are not in favor of India's tribal or poor sections. This government has never wanted the development of tribals in the country and will never want it," he said.

According to Chaudhury, CPIM formed a committee across the 60 assembly constituencies during the election and carried out election-related work. After evaluating the results and holding an evaluation meeting, he stated, "In that meeting, we said BJP-IPFT formed a government in 2018 based on fake promises and murdered all democratic rights using muscle power, misusing all government resources. They have weakened all government sectors, and people have failed to exercise their civil and democratic rights."

The CPIM leader further claimed that as the BJP's tenure was coming to an end and the 2023 elections approached, they found themselves losing ground and resorted to diverting attention through high-profile visits.

"They didn't even clarify why the Chief Minister was changed. They have spent crores of rupees and brought all the top brass, starting from the Prime Minister, to the state just to divert the attention of the people. In the last five years, the opposition has come under attack and has realized that BJP is losing support, and a majority of people are against them. There were no developments in the state," he added.