2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election

The 2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election was held on 18 February for 59 of the state's 60 constituencies.[2] The counting of votes took place on 3 March 2018. With 43% of the vote, the BJP secured a majority of seats (36) and subsequently formed the government with Biplab Kumar Deb as Chief Minister. The former governing Left Front alliance while receiving 42.7% of the vote secured only 16 seats.

2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election

18 February 2018

60 seats in the Tripura Legislative Assembly
31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout91.38%
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Biplab Kumar Deb Manik Sarkar
Party BJP CPI (M)
Alliance NDA Left Front
Leader since 2016 1998
Leader's seat Banamalipur Dhanpur
Last election 0 50
Seats won 36[1] 16[1]
Seat change 36 34
Popular vote 999,093 992,575
Percentage 43.59% 42.22%
Swing 41.5% 5.51%


Chief Minister before election

Manik Sarkar
CPI (M)

Elected Chief Minister

Biplab Kumar Deb
BJP

Background

The term of the Tripura Legislative Assembly ended on 6 March 2018.[3] Having governed Tripura since the 1998 election, the ruling Left Front alliance, under Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, sought re-election. Meanwhile, the region in general had been under the political control of the Communist Party for 25 years prior to the election, leading to the region being dubbed a "red holdout".[4]

Their primary challengers came in the form of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which under the leadership of Narendra Modi was the governing party of India on a national level.[5] The BJP is a nationalist, rightist party, whose policies directly oppose those of the Communists.[6] However, the party claimed no seats, and a mere 1.5% of the vote, in the region's previous election.[7] Despite the relatively small size of Tripura, the election took on additional significance on a national level as it was an acid test to gauge the successes of the BJP ahead of next year's general election,[8] and a chance to strip the communists, the party's "primary ideological enemy", of its stronghold.[4]

Prior to the election, a number of workers of the BJP were murdered. The BJP alleged that the murders were committed by CPI(M) members, which the party denies.[9][10][11]

Schedule

The Election Commission of India announced that the Legislative Assembly elections in Tripura will be held on 18 February 2018 and the results will be announced on 3 March 2018.[12]

Event Date Day
Date for nominations24 Jan 2018Wednesday
Last date for filing nominations31 Jan 2018Wednesday
Date for scrutiny of nominations1 Feb 2018Thursday
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures3 Feb 2018Saturday
Date of poll18 Feb 2018Sunday
Date of counting3 Mar 2018Saturday
Date before which the election shall be completed5 Mar 2018Monday

Electoral process changes

VVPAT-fitted EVMs was used in entire Tripura state in all polling stations in the 2018 elections, which was the first time that the entire state saw the implementation of VVPAT.[13]

The election took place in a single phase on 18 February 2018 with 89.8% voter turnout.[14] The results will be announced on 3 March 2018.

Contesting parties

297 candidates registered to contest the election.

PartySymbol AllianceSeats contested
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) Left Front57
Communist Party of India (CPI) Left Front1
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Left Front1
All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) Left Front1
Indian National Congress (INC) UPA 59
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) NDA 51
Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) NDA 9
Independents (IND) 27
Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) 15
Tripura People's Party 7
Amra Bangali 23
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) 24
Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) 5
Tipraland State Party 9
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation 5
North East India Development Party 1
Pragatishil Amara Bangali Samaj 1
I.P.F.T Tiprahaa (Independent) 1
Total 297

Campaign

The other major force in the election was the Indian National Congress, who had taken 36.5% of the popular vote in the region in 2013.[15] They are also, on a wider scale, the largest force in opposing Modi and the BJP in parliament. As such, Rahul Gandhi, in his capacity as the party's leader, campaigned in the region.[16] They were determined to prevent the BJP from seizing control on the region, as such an outcome would represent the "demise of the Left".[17]

Exit Polls

Polling firm Date published
BJP+ CPI(M)+ INC Others
JanKiBaat-NewsX[18] 27 January 2018 35-45 14-23 - -
CVoter[18] 27 January 2018 24-32 26-34 0-2 -
AxisMyIndia[18] 27 January 2018 44-50 9-15 - 0-3
Dinraat[19] 27 January 2018 10-19 40-49

Results

The incumbent Left Front government was defeated after 25 years of office out of which Manik Sarkar served for about 20 years, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura winning a large majority of seats. The Indian National Congress, which was the second largest party in the 2013 election, lost all its seats and most of its vote share.

Results by party

Parties and coalitions Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Contested Won +/−
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 10,25,673 43.59% 51 36 36
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) 9,93,605 42.22% 57 16 33
Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) 1,73,603 7.38% 9 8 8
Indian National Congress (INC) 42,100 1.79% 59 0 10
Communist Party of India (CPI) 19,352 0.82% 1 0 1
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) 17,568 0.75% 1 0
Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) 16,940 0.72% 15 0
All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) 13,115 0.56% 1 0
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) 6,989 0.3% 24 0
Independents (IND) 25 0
Other parties and coalitions 0
None of the Above (NOTA) 24,220 1.03%
Total 23,53,246 100.00 60 ±0
Valid votes
Invalid votes
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters

Winners by constituency

No. Constituency Elected MLA Party
1 Simna Brishaketu Debbarma IPFT
2 Mohanpur Ratan Lal Nath BJP
3 Bamutia Krishnadhan Das BJP
4 Barjala Dilip Kumar Das BJP
5 Khayerpur Ratan Chakraborty BJP
6 Agartala Sudip Roy Barman BJP
7 Ramnagar Surajit Datta BJP
8 Town Bordowali Asish Kumar Saha BJP
9 Banamalipur Biplab Kumar Deb BJP
10 Majlishpur Sushanta Choudhury BJP
11 Mandaibazar Dhirendra Debbarma IPFT
12 Takarjala Narendra Chandra Debbarma IPFT
13 Pratapgarh Rebati Mohan Das BJP
14 Badharghat Dilip Sarkar BJP
15 Kamalasagar Narayan Chandra Choudhury CPI (M)
16 Bishalgarh Bhanu Lal Saha CPI (M)
17 Golaghati Birendra Kishore Debbarma BJP
18 Suryamaninagar Ramprasad Pal BJP
19 Charilam Jishnu Deb Burman BJP
20 Boxanagar Sahid Choudhury CPI (M)
21 Nalchar Subhash Chandra Das BJP
22 Sonamura Shyamal Chakraborty CPI (M)
23 Dhanpur Manik Sarkar CPI (M)
24 Ramchandraghat Prashanta Debbarma IPFT
25 Khowai Nirmal Biswas CPI (M)
26 Asharambari Mevar Kumar Jamatia IPFT
27 Kalyanpur-Pramodenagar Pinaki Das Choudhuri BJP
28 Teliamura Kalyani Roy BJP
29 Krishnapur Atul Debbarma BJP
30 Bagma Rampada Jamatia BJP
31 Radhakishorpur Pranjit Singha Roy BJP
32 Matarbari Biplab Kumar Ghosh BJP
33 Kakraban-Salgarh Ratan Bhowmik CPI (M)
34 Rajnagar Sudhan Das CPI (M)
35 Belonia Arun Chandra Bhowmik BJP
36 Santirbazar Pramod Reang BJP
37 Hrishyamukh Badal Choudhury CPI (M)
38 Jolaibari Jashabir Tripura CPI (M)
39 Manu Pravat Chowdhury CPI (M)
40 Sabroom Shankar Roy BJP
41 Ampinagar Sindhu Chandra Jamatia IPFT
42 Amarpur Ranjit Das BJP
43 Karbook Burbu Mohan Tripura BJP
44 Raima Valley Dhananjay Tripura IPFT
45 Kamalpur Manoj Kanti Deb BJP
46 Surma Ashish Das BJP
47 Ambassa Parimal Debbarma BJP
48 Karmachhara Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl BJP
49 Chawamanu Shambhulal Chakma BJP
50 Pabiachhara Bhagaban Das BJP
51 Fatikroy Sudhangshu Das BJP
52 Chandipur Tapan Chakraborty CPI (M)
53 Kailashahar Mabaswar Ali CPI (M)
54 Kadamtala-Kurti Islam Uddin CPI (M)
55 Bagbassa Bijita Nath CPI (M)
56 Dharmanagar Biswa Bandhu Sen BJP
57 Jubarajnagar Ramendra Chandra Debnath CPI (M)
58 Panisagar Binoy Bhushan Das BJP
59 Pencharthal Santana Chakma BJP
60 Kanchanpur Prem Kumar Reang IPFT

Reactions

The BJP chose Biplab Kumar Deb to be the next Chief Minister. He said: "I am ready to take the responsibility. I will not run away from taking the responsibility. I have already been given a bigger responsibility, the party's state presidentship, which I have been fulfilling to the best of my ability. People responded favourably to our call 'Chalo Paltai' (let's change)." He claimed that having the same party in the central government and at the state level "helps in faster development." He further called for restraint in post-electoral violence: "We do not believe in the politics of vengeance and hatred, so we appeal to the people to maintain peace and calm." In addition he asserted that "the word development does not exist in the dictionary of the CPI-M. Our government will provide good governance and time-bound implementation of all developmental works."[20]

Former Chief Minister of Kerala and senior CPI(M) leader V. S. Achuthanandan called for the party's leadership to ally with "secular forces" to defeat the Sangh Parivar: "The country is facing serious challenges. The Congress, which had ruled for decades in the post-independence period, has become weaker now. He supported party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury's call for an "understanding" with the INC as "a tactical move with secular forces was necessary." The party's provincial minister claimed that the BJP had "misused" money and power at the central government in winning the election and that the "challenge to the democracy and the national integrity." Another CPM figure M. V. Jayarajan, private secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, claimed that the INC voters and leaders were moving towards the BJP and that the result should "not be viewed lightly and all the patriots in the country have the responsibility to check and isolate any effort of the communal forces gaining strength in the country. Politburo member M. A. Baby said that while the result was "unexpected", he did "respect the verdict of the people." He added: "However, there is a decline of 6-7 per cent vote share of the Left front. It's a concern...how the erosion has taken place and why this happened will be dispassionately examined by the party in Tripura and the national leadership."[21]

Media

It was suggested that in order to defeat the BJP, other opposition parties would have to unite.[22]

Charilam bypoll

Polling for the seat of Charilam was postponed to 12 March 2018 after the death of Communist Party of India (Marxist) incumbent candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma. The CPI(M) withdrew their candidate for the bypoll claiming that there was an increase in violence. This claim was refuted by BJP National Secretary Ram Madhav, who termed it as "bogus", and an attempt by the CPI(M) to hide their defeat.[23]

Despite this, the CPI(M) candidate continued to be present on the ballot paper, and subsequently lost their deposit.[24][25]

Tripura Legislative Assembly Bypoll, 2018: Charilam[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJP Jishnu Deb Burman 26,580 90.81
CPI (M) Palash Debbarma 1030 3.51
INC Arjun Debbarma 775 2.64
INPT Uma Shankar Debbarma 685 2.34
Independent Jyotilal Debbarma 198 0.67 N/A
Majority 25,550 87.29 25550
Turnout
Registered electors
BJP gain from CPI (M) Swing

See also

References

  1. "Tripura Election 2018". Elections.in.
  2. "Tripura Assembly Election 2018 LIVE: 78.56% Turnout Till 9 PM, Left Front's 25-Year-Long Run Faces BJP Challenge". NDTV. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  3. "Upcoming Elections in India". Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  4. "Conquest of Tripura".
  5. "Tripura polls: Communist cadres getting feel of competition from new foe BJP". United News of India. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  6. Banerjee 2005, p. 3118.
  7. "Tripura election results 2018: Full list of winners". The Indian Express. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  8. "Modi ends communists' 25-year rule in provincial vote".
  9. "Tripura: Booth president found dead, BJP alleges 12 murders by CPM". 12 February 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  10. "BJP worker hacked to death in poll-bound Tripura". Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  11. Saikia, Arunabh. "In poll-bound Tripura, the BJP accuses the Left of Kerala-style political killings". Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  12. "Legislative Assembly Elections 2018: Election Commission announces poll dates for Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland - Republic World". Republic World. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  13. "VVPAT training in Tripura".
  14. "त्रिपुरा विधानसभा चुनाव में 89.8 प्रतिशत मतदान". NDTV. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  15. "What really helped BJP win Tripura". The Times of India.
  16. Ali, Syed Sajjad (16 February 2018). "Cong. committed to Tripura" via www.thehindu.com.
  17. "Strong Left necessary for India: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh". 4 March 2018.
  18. "Exit polls predict BJP may win Tripura, consolidate position in Meghalaya and Nagaland". Times of India. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  19. PTI (1 March 2018). "Tripura awaits election results as exit polls fail to give clear picture". Live Mint. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  20. "Gym instructor-turned-politician Biplab Kumar Deb likely to be Tripura CM - Rediff.com India News". www.rediff.com.
  21. "Defeat in Tripura should be viewed with seriousness: CPM".
  22. "What lessons the Tripura elections verdict holds for the Left". www.dailyo.in.
  23. "Left making lame attempt to hide loss in Tripura: Ram Madhav - Republic World". Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  24. "BJP wins Tripura's Charilam assembly contested by Deputy CM after post-poll violence delayed counting - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 15 March 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  25. http://ceotripura.nic.in/Docs/Form20_AC19.pdf
  26. "Polling underway in Charilam Assembly seat in Tripura". India Today. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
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