All preparations for conducting peaceful elections to the 60-member Tripura Assembly, which goes to polls on Thursday, have been completed, according to Election Commission. Arch rivals for a long time, Congress and Left have joined hands to dislodge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in the northeastern state. In this triangular contest, the ruling BJP and its alliance partner Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) are pitted against the Left-Congress alliance and TIPRA Motha, the newest regional party in the state.
The BJP is contesting on 55 seats and its ally on six seats as both parties have fielded their candidates from the Ampinagar constituency. The Left – which includes the CPM, Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India ( CPI) and Revolutionary Socialist Party ( RSP) – will contest in 47 seats while Congress in 13 seats. The TIPRA Motha, headed by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, will contest in 42 seats.
The counting of votes will be done on March 2.
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