Tripura Elections 2023: Who will be the next CM? Exit polls show BJP in the lead

Tripura Assembly elections 2023 results will be announced on March 2 and the P-MARQ exit poll has predicted a big win for the BJP and its ally, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT). With a win of 32-42 seats predicted in the 60-member assembly, Chief Minister Manik Saha is expected to retain the post. However, a tough triangular battle is also highly likely; the Congress-Left alliance and the local Tipra Motha Party being the two other contenders. With the Tripura results inching closer, here is a look at the potential CM candidates. 

Who will be the next Tripura CM?

The BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are the first and the second largest party as they are contesting the assembly elections in 55 and 43 constituencies, respectively. While Manik Saha is the CM face for the BJP, CPI(M) has four major candidates who are in the race and could give a tough battle to its rivals. The BJP and CPI(M) are head to head in the three most- talked-about constituencies, while the latter is competing with the saffron party's ally in the fourth. 

The CPI(M) has fielded its candidate Prabitra Kar against the BJP's Ratan Chakraborty in the Khayerpur constituency, whereas Jitendra Choudhary of CPI(M) and Sankar Roy of BJP will compete in Sabroom. Notably, it was recently announced by  AICC general secretary Ajay Kumar that Choudhary, a representative of the tribal community, is the leading candidate for the CM post if the Congress-Left alliance wins. 

Both parties are also contesting in Dhanpur, with Pratima Bhoumik and Kaushik Chandra being the major candidates for the BJP and CPI(M), respectively. Jayanti Debbarma, an IPFT candidate and BJP ally, on the other hand, is challenging CPI(M) leader Dilip Debbarma. 

BJP's Manik Saha, however, is up against Congress candidate Ashish Kumar Saha for the Town Bardowali constituency and the latter can be projected as the CM if he and the party manages to win. 

Other major candidates from the BJP are Rajib Vattachariya for the Banamalipur against Congress' Gopaal Roy whereas Moboswar Ali (BJP) is against Birjin Sinha (Congress) in the Kailashahar constituency. 

The Tipra Motha party, which is the third largest party with 42 candidates, is also likely to project Purnachandra Jamatiya, who is against BJP's Rampada Jamatiya in Bagma, as the CM face. Notably, there are 58 independent candidates contesting the state elections who can majorly influence the final results. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has also fielded its leaders in 28 constituencies although there are no signs of tough competition from the party. 

Tripura elections 2023 in numbers

• Total number of candidates - 259
• BJP - 55
• IPFT -  06
• CPI(M) - 43
• Tipra Motha - 42
• Congress - 13
• TMC - 28
• CPI(Marxist-Leninist) - 1
• Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) - 1
• All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) - 1
• Independent - 58

1. Polling Stations - 3,337

2. Total number of voters - 28,14,584

3. Male voters - 14,15,233

4. Female voters - 13,99,289

5. Third Gender - 62

6. Employee Votes - 10,344 (95% vote)

7. New voters (18 - 19 yrs) - 94,815

8. Overall voting percentage - 87.63 % + 2 % (Service Vote) = 89.9 %

9. Male percentage - 86.12 %

10. Female percentage - 89.17 %