CPI(M), Congress to fight Tripura elections together

The CPI(M) and Congress on Friday announced that they will fight the Tripura assembly elections together, in a major shake-up in the political arena of the Northeastern state where the two parties were considered arch-rivals.

The announcement was made after AICC general secretary Ajoy Kumar held a meeting with CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Choudhury in the evening. Left Front convener Narayan Kar was also present in the meeting held at the CPI(M)'s state headquarters here.

"A state Congress team will sit with the CPI(M) state secretary to formulate a strategy and finalise the seat sharing. We will fight together in the assembly elections," Kumar told reporters after the meeting.

Choudhury said both the CPI(M) and Congress have started the discussions with "an open mind" to fulfill the people's aspirations and defeat the BJP, which has been "destroying the constitutional order" in the state for the past five years.

"The people want to end the BJP's rule and giving due respect to the people's wish, we have decided to fight the election jointly. The number of seats is not important but the defeat of BJP is the main agenda," he said.

Choudhury said his party is also in talks with Tipra Motha chairman Pradyot Debbarma.

"Debbarma is not well but he told us that he will be in the fray to defeat the BJP," he said.

The announcement marks a tectonic shift in the state's political landscape as the Congress was the main opposition to the CPI(M)-led Left Front, which ruled the state for 25 years before being routed by the BJP in 2018.

Earlier in the day, the ruling BJP said that an alliance between the CPI(M) and the Congress would be good for it.

"Earlier, they used to maintain cozy relations covertly, and now it will be in the open. In fact, the CPI(M) had ruled Tripura for 25 years because of the understanding with the Congress," BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee said.