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Tripura

	February 24, 2003

In Tripura, two major Opposition political parties, Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and the Congress have forged a pre-poll alliance in order to unseat the ruling Left Front Government that has ruled the State for over a decade.

In the 60-member Assembly, 20 seats (representing one-third of the State’s population) are reserved for the tribal candidates. Currently, the ruling Left Front has 42 seats, and out of the remaining seats, Congress has 13, including one Congress-backed independent) and INPT has five legislators. The INPT may gain more seats, but LF will retain its reign.

For the Left Front, the dominant partner CPI-M is contesting 55 seats. The remaining five seats will be contested by other front partners such as the CPI, All India Forward Bloc and the RSP.

The Congress has fielded 42 candidates and its ally INPT is aiming to win in 18 constituencies reserved for tribals.

The poll campaign has picked up in hills and plains of Tripura with leaders of both alliances criss-crossing the state with graffiti plastering the walls, posters and pamphlets on walls and even roofs. The state wears a festive look.

Street corner meetings and rallies are being addressed by state and national-level leaders of different political parties. The main stars are Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, two former Chief Ministers from the Congress, Sudhir Ranjan Majumder and Samir Ranjan Burman, as well as insurgent-turned- politician, Bijoy Hrankhawl who is the president of INPT.

The ruling Left Front has made development its main poll plank. The front which is getting handsome Central funds for different projects no longer blames New Delhi for allegedly “depriving” the state, a different view from other leftist governments’ as in West Bengal. But they say the fruits of development need to reach the remote hill areas.

There are strong indications of an anti-incumbency wave in the hill State. While the principal political combines - the ruling Left Front comprising CPI, CPI (M), RSP and Forward Bloc, and the Opposition Congress-INPT combine - seek to focus on developmental issues, the large-scale unemployment perhaps will play an important part in the outcome of the polls.

The Government has almost frozen recruitment, the only major source of employment in the State. Those with political clout usurp even the small jobs, leaving the deserving and the needy high and dry.

This apart, the decades-old problem of insurgency persists in the State. The extremists, who were once struggling for ideology, have now turned flag-bearers of the different political parties.

Allegations and counter-allegations are doing the rounds that the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and the breakaway faction of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have lent underground support to the Left, while the other NLFT faction has been working for the Congress-INPT combine.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front’s main campaign against the Congress-INPT alliance is that the party had joined hands with insurgents and it was anti-national.

In the context of the widening divide between the Bengalis and the tribals (which started in the wake of the Mandai massacre of June, 1980), the Congress-INPT alliance cannot but cause concern to the Bengalis as the ‘tribal-militants’ have been targeting them for years.

The Congress counters the charge by blaming the CPI (M) for the growth of militancy in the State, and that during its rule between 1988 and 1993, there was no ethnic conflict in Tripura.

There is fear - and also subtle propaganda - among the Bengalis that if the alliance wins, the INPT’s chief, Bijoy Hrangkhal, will become the Chief Minister.

Joining the chorus of state CPM leadership, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has lambasted INPT president Bijay Hrangkhawl as the “kingpin behind Tripura’s militancy and the worst ant-national elements”.

Addressing a well-attended election rally at Sonamura stadium of the subdivisional town yesterday, the “star attraction” urged the people to ensure a fresh mandate for the ruling Left Front.

The opposition alliance blames the ruling Left Front of corruption, indulging in nepotism and failing to provide safety to ordinary people. With the electioneering picking up momentum, militancy-related violence as well as political clashes have increased sharply.

Political analysts in Tripura believe that the tribal militant groups will play a decisive role in the remote tribal areas, and that may go in favour of the INPT-Congress alliance.

The electioneering in Tripura, however, is not free from violence. On 26 January, the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) massacred 11 persons, including five women and children, saying it was an attack on supporters and activists of the ruling group in the Mandai bazaar area, only 15 km away from the capital of Agartala. Mandai bazaar was the place where a ghastly massacre of over 200 persons took place in 1980, marking the first major outbreak of ethnic violence in the state.

A total of 30 activists of the CPI-M and seven of INPT have been killed in political violence during the run-up to the polls. A fear psychosis is prevailing in the interiors because of insurgent activities. The banned All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) has given a call for boycott of elections and the NLFT, which is also proscribed, is intimidating tribal voters.

To instill confidence, the army has been deployed in sensitive and vulnerable areas and security has been increased throughout Tripura. The strength of the Border Security Force is also being increased along the 840-km border with Bangladesh.