Guwahati: The announcement by the CPI(M) and Congress to run in the Tripura assembly elections together has caused a significant upheaval in the political landscape of the northeastern state, where the two parties were previously seen as bitter enemies.
After meeting with CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Choudhury on Friday night, AICC general secretary Ajoy Kumar made the statement. Narayan Kar, the convener of the Left Front attended the conference as well.
“A state Congress team will sit with the CPI(M) state secretary to formulate a strategy and finalise the seat sharing. We will fight together in the assembly elections,” Kumar told reporters as reported by PTI.
In order to satisfy the needs of the populace and defeat the BJP, which has been “destroying the constitutional order” in the state for the previous five years, Choudhury claimed that both the CPI(M) and Congress had begun negotiations with “an open mind.”
“The number of seats is not important, but defeat of the saffron party is the main agenda,” he said.
Choudhury claimed that Tipra Motha chairman Pradyot Debbarma and his party are in communication.
The announcement represents a seismic shift in the political climate of the state because the Left Front, led by the CPI(M), which controlled Tripura for 25 years before being defeated by the BJP in 2018, was primarily opposed by the Congress.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP said that an alliance between the CPI(M) and the Congress would augur well for it.
“Earlier, they used to maintain cozy relations covertly, and now it will be in the open. In fact, the CPI(M) had ruled for so long because of its understanding with the Congress,” BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee said, the PTI report stated.