To fight ‘common enemy’ BJP, now, Mamata wants Left to win Tripura polls

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By oneindia staff

Kolkata, March 2: As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going from strength to strength across the country since its big win in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee now wants its former 'enemy'--the Left--to win the Assembly elections in Tripura. In her home state, Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Banerjee has always stood against the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M). However, now with the changing political dynamics and the BJP emerging as the main opponent in Bengal, Banerjee said that she would be happy if the Manik Sarkar government in Tripura wins the Assembly polls for the "greater interests" of all the opposition parties.

"I am not into blind opposition. You (the Left parties) are on the verge of losing the elections in Tripura. But I would have been happy if you won the polls for a greater cause (to keep BJP at bay). Try to look at the big picture. Your haughtiness and ego have led to your downfall. You didn't participate in the anti-BJP rally that Lalu Prasad had called in Patna," Banerjee said in the Bengal assembly on Wednesday.

The Assembly elections results of Tripura, along with Meghalaya and Nagaland, will be declared on Saturday (March 3). The elections to the 60-member Tripura Assembly were held on February 18. Voting in Nagaland and Meghalaya took place on Tuesday (February 27).

A resurgent BJP in Tripura had put up a strong fight during the elections to end the 25 years rule of the CPI-M-led Left Front government in the state. The BJP has formed an alliance with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) in Tripura for the elections.

On February 18, voting was held in 59 of the total 60 seats in Tripura Assembly. Polling could not be held in Charilam constituency because of the death of CPI-M candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma in February. The constituency will go to polls on March 12.

The BJP is making a determined bid to demolish the red bastion of 25 years, with stalwarts like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah leading the charge. The BJP, which had forged a pre-poll alliance with the IPFT, had fielded 51 candidates.

Earlier, out of the three main exit polls, two had declared the BJP a clear winner in Tripura. However, the left parties are confident of coming to power in the northeastern state, once again. Veteran communist leader Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy on Wednesday expressed doubts over the two exit polls which predicted the BJP's win in Tripura elections and said the Left Front is confident of returning to power.

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