Left to continue development, peace in Tripura: CM

{image-manik sarkar_07032008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Agartala (Tripura), Mar 7: Hailing the Left Front's fourth consecutive win at the Assembly hustings in Tripura, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said on Friday that his mission would be to continue the process of development and peace in the insurgent-hit state. Interacting with the media after the Left Front achieved a landslide victory in the polls, winning 49 of the 60 Assembly seats up for grabs, Sarkar said: "The Left Front has won because they want to continue the process of development and peace in the state." "My priority is the upliftment of the downtrodden," he added. The Left Front won 49 seats and the Congress with its allies managed to win 11 seats in Tripura. The Left Front had previously captured power in 1993, 1998 and 2003. In the previous elections, the Front had won 41 seats.

In the current elections, one of its allies the Forward Bloc had broken away following differences on seat sharing. The Congress has managed to win only ten and its ally Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) managed to bag a lone seat by its President Bijoy KumarHrangkhawl, a former militant leader. The Tripura election saw a record 92 percent voter turnout. Counting of votes took place at 19 centres in 17 sub-divisions of four districts in Tripura from 8 a.m. this morning.

Former Opposition Leader Ratan Lal Nath said that people had not accepted them, and therefore he would give reasons for the opposition's defeat only after a party discussion. Stalwart who lost are Deputy Speaker Subal Rudra, PCC President Samir Ranjan Barman, INPT General Secretary Rabindra Debbarma, INTUC President (state unit) Dipak Roy, veteran tribal leader Shama Charan Tripura, Ashok Baidya, Nagendra Jamatya, Rabindra Debbarma, Animesh Debbarma, Prakash Das and Maharani Bibhu Kumari Debi.

CPI(M) workers have started celebrating the victory at the party headquarters here, distributing sweets and greetings with their fellow comrades.
Chief Minister Sarkar romped home from the Dhanpur Constituency defeating his nearest rival by 2,900 votes. Prominent Front winners were Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury (CPI-M) who retained the Hrishyamukh seat by a margin of 7761 votes and Labour Minister Faizur Rahman who won from Kurti.

Other CPI-M winners included Bijita Nath (Kadamtala seat), Amitava Dutta (Dharmanagar), Samir Deb Sarkar (Khowai) and Daniel Jamatia (Ampinagar).
RSP's Joygobinda Deb Roy retained the Radhakishorepur seat defeating Congress' Pranjit Singharoy by 312 votes. Meanwhile in Meghalaya, a hung Assembly is in the offing.

The State's Deputy Chief Minister and Congress candidate Mukul Sangma retained the Ampatgiri seat defeating Clement Momin (NCP) and Dharmeswar Koch of the United Democratic Party. The United Democratic Party has bagged two seats and is leading in seven. The P.A. Sangma-led NCP wrested one seat and is leading in seven.

The ruling Congress is ahead in 22 seats and the BJP in one, while Independents are leading in four seats in Meghalaya. Final results in Meghalaya are expected soon.

ANI