BJP used massive money power to influence Tripura elections: CPM

AGARTALA: After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday stormed the 25-year-old red bastion in Tripura in the 2018 State Assembly polls, the Manik Sarkar-led Communist Party of India (Marxist) hit out at the former and said that it has utilised massive deployment of money and other resources to influence the elections.

"BJP has, apart from other factors, utilised massive deployment of money and other resources to influence the elections. BJP was able to consolidate all the anti-Left votes virtually appropriating the erstwhile main opposition, Congress," said CPIM.

Thanking the voters who extended support, the CPM further said, "Polit Bureau thanks the 45 per cent of the voters who extended support to CPI(M) and Left Front. We assure the people of Tripura that it will continue to champion the cause of all sections of the working people and uphold tribal-non tribal unity."

"Verdict of the people of Tripura will lead to the formation of a BJP-IPFT alliance govt in the state. After 25 yrs in govt, the Left front has been voted out of office," CPM added.

The BJP who looks poised to form the government in the state stormed to power in alliance with the tribal-based IPFT outfit, crumbling the CPI-M led Left Front - the country's one of the last remaining red bastions.

The saffron outfit was a virtual political non-entity all these years in the tiny state, where it had drawn a blank in terms of seats and secured only 1.5 percent of votes in the Assembly polls five years back.

Tripura went to polls on February 18 and the elections were held for 59 seats. In the last Assembly elections in 2013, the Left Front had secured 50 seats while remaining 10 seats went to the Congress, which this time seems unlikely to open its account.

A total of 290 candidates, including 23 women, of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist, CPI, BJP and Congress and many independents, were in the fray.

Balloting in Charilam (reserved for the tribals) has been deferred to March 12, 2018, after CPI-M candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma died a week before the polls.

Over 92 per cent (excluding 50,700 postal ballots) of Tripura`s 2,536,589 voters cast their votes on February 18 in a peaceful election, setting a new record in India`s electoral history.