Left-Congress Seat-Sharing Talks Continue in Tripura; No Walkover for BJP: Jitendra

Chaudhury
(Report by Rahul Sinha)

Agartala, November 6. The CPI(M) and the Congress are continuing discussions on seat-sharing arrangements for the Agartala Municipal Corporation elections, with the Left determined to ensure that the BJP does not get a walkover in any ward.

CPI(M) Tripura State Committee Secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said on Wednesday that talks between the two parties were still underway and that efforts were being made to reach a consensus before the November 10 deadline for withdrawal of nominations.

Replying to questions from journalists, Chaudhury said discussions had taken place with Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman on Tuesday. He had also held a meeting with Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashish Saha. Talks with the Congress leadership continued on Wednesday as well.

He pointed out that the two parties had their own programmes and organisational discipline, and differences over the number of seats sought by each side were natural during negotiations. Such differences, he observed, were particularly acute within the ruling BJP, where protests had reportedly broken out in several wards following the announcement of its candidate list on Wednesday night.

Chaudhury revealed that the CPI(M) had initially refrained from filing nominations in 25–26 wards of the Agartala Municipal Corporation, keeping these seats open for the Congress. The Congress had also initially sought such an arrangement.

However, he cautioned that if the Congress ultimately decided not to field candidates in these wards, it could hand the BJP an uncontested victory.

“We will not allow the BJP a walkover under any circumstances,” he asserted.

Emphasising that there was still time before the November 10 deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers , Chaudhury said both parties would continue discussions and seek to arrive at a mutually acceptable understanding. He said the two sides had agreed on the fundamental objective of preventing the BJP from benefiting from any division among opposition parties.

Chaudhury reiterated that the final decision on which party would contest which ward would be taken after further discussions. The CPI(M), he said, sincerely wanted all anti-BJP votes to remain united to defeat the ruling party in the urban body elections.

He stressed that defeating the BJP required the broadest possible unity among opposition forces, and that the ongoing seat-sharing discussions were guided by this objective.

(Reporter is a freelance journalist.)