Expect vote Tsunami as Tripura fed up with violence: Congress

Agartala: The Congress-Left alliance fighting the assembly elections in Tripura feels there will be a “Tsunami of votes” against the ruling BJP as people are “fed up” with five years of “continued political violence” in the border state.

Congress leader Sudip Roy Burman who was earlier health minister in the ruling BJP state government, in an interview to PTI video, also said that the alliance did not support the demand for the proposed Greater Tipraland state and felt that in a post-poll scenario, Tipra Motha, will have a “practical outlook”.

“There will be a Tsunami of votes against the BJP. People are fed up with continued violence which has overshadowed any development work done by the ruling party,” said Barman.

“The BJP government presented us with a Jungle Raj, the voice of the opposition was throttled, there was no rule of law … my prediction is the Congress-Left alliance will sweep the polls,” he said.

Barman, a five-time MLA and the son of a popular former chief minister of the state, had led a group of six Congress MLAs to first join Trinamool Congress in 2016, only to move away to the BJP a year later, unhappy at the lack of interest in his state on the part of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

His defection along with his supporters is believed to have played a crucial role in the saffron party’s victory in the 2018 assembly polls.

Barman was rewarded with several heavyweight portfolios including health. But soon afterwards, he was sacked by the then chief minister Biplab Deb after political differences emerged. In February last year, he rejoined the grand old party after resigning his seat in the assembly in what observers termed a “homecoming”, in the presence of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

“We believe that the vote will be so overwhelming that even if there are attempts to rig the election, it would not work. Even if they (BJP) manage to break a party, it won’t work as they are unlikely to have the numbers … horse trading, in any case, will be difficult here, people here are very politically conscious,” the former ‘young Turk’, now in his mid-fifties, said.

Speaking on the demand for a ‘greater Tipraland’ made by the Tipra Motha party which was launched a year back by the scion of the former royal family of Tripura, Barman said, “It is not a practical demand as Tripura is surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh, we do not endorse the demand.” The proposed Greater Tipraland state would comprise portions of various states and even a part of Bangladesh.

Barman also said that the indigenous community’s leadership had a right to make the demand but there were other ways of addressing the demand for more development in tribal areas, which he conceded was poorer than the rest of Tripura.

“There is annoyance among our indigenous people over the pace of development in areas where they reside … we feel constitutional changes are needed,” he said.

Barman added that the passage of the 125th amendment bill which is lying with Parliament would help.

“Its passage will mean more fund flow to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), ensure a three-tier panchayat system, more executive powers and we are ready to support those measures,” he said.

The demand for Greater Tipraland has proven to be divisive in this tiny state with just over 40 lakh people. While tribals feel the demand would help them, the majority Bengali-speaking plains people who have memories of the 1947 partition of India where they lost land, relatives and livelihood, fear that such a move would prove disastrous for them.

“We cannot let Tripura be divided,” said Barman, who is contesting from the prestigious Agartala constituency, the one-time pocket borough of the legendary Communist leader Nripen Chakraborty.

Crystal ball gazing at the post-poll scenario, the Congress leader said though a “hung assembly was unlikely”, he felt after the din and dust of the elections had settled, “Tipra Motha will have a practical outlook” towards government formation.