The Hindu : Cong., CPI(M) to slug it out

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 18, 2003

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Other States - Tripura

Cong., CPI(M) to slug it out

By Our Correspondent

Agartala Feb. 17. The elections to the 60-member Tripura Assembly, scheduled for February 26, are likely to witness a neck-and-neck fight, judging by the confused mood of the electorate. The sporadic clashes between the fronts led by the Congress and the CPI(M) have only added to the confusion.

The Election Commission has already made arrangements to augment the strength of the security forces to ensure a free and fair election.

The entire force of the State Police has been kept away from the polling process after many Opposition parties, including the Indigenous Peoples' Front of Twipra (INPT) which is a member of the Congress-led coalition, accused it of being partisan. Seven senior bureaucrats and a police official have also not been allotted any poll-related work for the same reason.

The EC observers have already submitted their recommendations to the Commission, containing various constituency-specific steps for peaceful polling. Army personnel have been sent to the disturbed areas.

The massacre of 11 non-tribals in the Mandai constituency, near Agartala, set the alarm bells ringing in the EC.

The CPI(M) gave a call for a bandh, alleging that the massacre had been perpetrated by the INPT.

On other hand, the Opposition Congress-led front demanded a judicial probe into the incident, claiming that the Left front was fomenting communal riots with an eye on the elections. The State Congress president, Birjit Sinha, even complained to the EC.

The Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, has termed the election a battle of the CPI(M)-led front against "the secessionist forces led by the Congress". He sought votes citing the development work carried out by the Left front during its rule.

The Opposition, though, claims that the CPI(M) rule was "myopic and disastrous" and that it had "plunged the State into bloodbaths since the beginning of its rule". It alleged that the Left front had alienated the tribal masses, forcing a section of the youth to take up arms.

The Congress had all along tried to bring them into the political mainstream and to bring peace to the State.

Other smaller parties such as the National Congress Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Lok Janshakti and many independents are also contesting the polls and a total of 254 candidates remain in the fray after the withdrawal of nominations.

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Cong., CPI(M) to slug it out