CPM’s Jitendra Chaudhary sworn in as Tripura’s new leader of Opposition, jibes at TIPRA Motha
Chaudhary says he has effectively, though not technically, been the leader of the Opposition for the past one year, in a jibe at his predecessor Animesh Debbarma of TIPRA Motha.
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Tripura CPM secretary Jitendra Chaudhary. (File Photo)Tripura CPM secretary Jitendra Chaudhary was sworn in as Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly on Wednesday, weeks after the TIPRA Motha, which used to be the principal Opposition party, switched sides to join the BJP-led government.
Speaking to reporters later, Speaker Biswabandhu Sen said, “TIPRA Motha’s Animesh Debbarma served as the leader of the Opposition earlier. Since they have become a part of the government, now the CPM, which has 10 MLAs, is the principal Opposition in the 60-member Assembly. Their legislative party has elected Jitendra Chaudhary to be the leader of the Opposition. I have sworn him in as per their letter submitted to my office.”
Chaudhary served as a minister in the Left Front government under Manik Sarkar till 2013 and as a Lok Sabha MP till 2018.
In an oblique jibe at his predecessor Animesh Debbarma of TIPRA Motha, which the CPM had accused of helping the BJP return to power, Chaudhary said, “Effectively I was the Opposition leader, though not technically. Whether in terms of the vote share (in the 2023 polls) or raising issues in the Assembly against the government’s anti-people policies, I have tried even more than the person who used to be the Leader of the Opposition. Yes, he had tried as well.”
Debbarma is now the minister for forests, general administration and science and technology.
Chaudhary also said he would wholeheartedly support any pro-people policy of the government.
“Building on my experience as a member of the Assembly for nearly two decades and as a parliamentarian, I will try to raise these issues inside and outside the Assembly,” he said. “Everyone who has served as Opposition leader before me has done their part. I will try to learn from them, including the person who was the Opposition leader before me. I will try to build on the pro-people initiatives that he had taken in the Assembly.”
Although the leader of the Opposition post has a negative ring to it as his job is to oppose the government, Chaudhary further said, it is part and parcel of governance. “The Opposition party and its leader have been given constitutional recognition along with the ruling party in Parliament and all other legislatures,” he added.
The CPM won 11 seats in the 2023 Assembly polls but has since lost two bypolls, including in a constituency where the poll was necessitated by the death of its MLA.
Now the BJP has 33 MLAs, TIPRA Motha 13 MLAs and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura one MLA, making up the majority of 47 in the 60-member Assembly.
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