Tripura CPM leader on BJP victory: ‘They lost votes but won due to arithmetic … Our failure to ally with TIPRA Motha paved the way’

The Left Front sounded ambitious about forming the government with a simple majority. You earlier said the BJP tally would be reduced to a single digit. The opposite has happened. The CPI(M) has narrowly gone past single digit, while the BJP has secured a simple majority. What happened?

We said nothing wrong when we said the BJP would be defeated. The figures show that BJP was defeated by vote share, which came down massively compared to 2018. They lost by votes but won by arithmetic because we couldn’t check the division of votes. We tied up with the Congress but couldn’t do the same with the TIPRA Motha, though we tried. That paved the way for the BJP, which would have got seven to eight seats but for the division of anti-BJP votes.

Do you think any non-BJP party worked at the BJP’s behest to facilitate its ‘victory by arithmetic’?

Left-Congress voters voted against BJP. Motha voted against the BJP as well. These three were the common enemies of the BJP though the issues and slogans were different.

The Left-Congress voted on the promise of restoring democracy and the rule of law, while Motha’s issue was a Constitutional solution for the tribal demand for autonomy. If we had married these two (issues), it could have worked. The unfortunate thing is that without democracy, the welfare of any marginalised population can’t happen.

The Left teamed up with the Congress for the first time in Tripura. Critics are saying that votes did not get transferred from the Congress to the Left. What do you feel?

It is not true. Everywhere, Congress supporters at all levels worked for common candidates and vice versa. But since 2018, a huge Congress vote share has eroded, a bulk of which switched over to the BJP. A large share of these voters didn’t return to the Congress. Also, the Congress was only active in some pockets, that too, mostly before the elections. The Congress is a leader-based party unlike ours. In our case, whether we have leaders or not, the cadre remain active. But apart from Sudip Roy Barman, Birajit Sinha, Gopal Chandra Roy, and Ashish Kumar Saha, who were active all through, along with their followers, there was no formidable Congress leader. So, their followers didn’t return.

Judging from the experience of the elections, do you see any future for a continued partnership with the Congress?

This is not about Tripura alone. Barring a few pockets across the country, any future anti-BJP political combination would be of the Left and secular-democratic forces coming together. All of us are coming together. It is the compulsion of the time that we continue together. If we are to combat the RSS and the BJP, there is no other alternative due to the emerging situation.

Were your results affected by the rise of the TIPRA Motha?

TIPRA Motha’s rise is part of a phenomenon of tribal parties that rose in different phases in the state since the 1960s. There was the TUJS in the early 1960s, there were other tribal parties since the 1980s as well.

In the present, tribals and minorities are suffering from an identity crisis, mostly affecting the younger generations. The Left did a lot of socio-economic development in Tripura in its time. But because of regional or pan-India developments, indigenous regional parties are emerging in Nagaland, Manipur, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha or Tripura. There are many other reasons for this. These are affecting the mindset of the younger generations in the state. Though the entire Left politics is oriented towards the poor and tribals, the pan-India situation has allured some of the tribals and it has helped in the rise of regional parties. In the long run, it may be tough for them to survive alone. We believe they will be part and parcel of the democratic movement.

There have been a series of violent incidents in different parts of Tripura recently. CM Dr Manik Saha has blamed the Opposition for these and said no one will be spared. Your take?

It is very unfortunate on the part of the CM. Though he is a caretaker chief minister, a CM is a CM for everyone. Their (BJP) supporters are the provocateurs in all these incidents of violence. Over 500 Left supporters were physically assaulted, over 600 houses were damaged, and many were gutted. Shops and rubber plantations were damaged and BJP supporters are running scot-free. But the real culprits were not arrested. Those who were detained were released after a few minutes. The BJP is the main culprit. The CM should impartially handle the situation. We shall meet the Governor soon to apprise him of the situation. The BJP local leaders are provoking these incidents.

The Election Commission of India conducted a ‘Mission Zero Poll Violence’ during the elections. How satisfied are you with the poll process?

Definitely, on several occasions, we feel the role of ECI this time was good. The same ECI conducted the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, and this one as well, but there is a lot of difference. If they didn’t take the Mission Zero Poll Violence, we wouldn’t have been in a position to conduct our campaign. But they failed to check the flow of money that influenced the mandate in a big way. There was also a lot of violence but the administration was neutral, which is why they could be neutralised to some extent. But now that the Model Code of Conduct is withdrawn and havoc is being wreaked again.

What is the future of Communist politics in Tripura now that the BJP has secured two consecutive wins?

The answer lay in arithmetics. Their fascist attacks on democratic institutions have cost them a lot of vote share in the last five years. If they continue this way, they will be reduced to less than 30 per cent. People will take their own time. The last five years were bitter. Now, people are coming together to resist. Those days are near when Tripura will witness people taking steps to protect themselves even if the administration doesn’t protect their safety and security.