Is BJP overconfident of winning Tripura Assembly elections?

Hours before Tripura goes to elections on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has expressed confidence of overthrowing the Left Front government in the northeastern state.

Agartala, Feb 17: Hours before Tripura goes to elections on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has expressed confidence of overthrowing the Left Front government in the northeastern state.

The BJP leaders say the party would gain a landslide victory in Tripura elections and the incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M))-led Left Front government in the state would not get more than four or five seats in the 60-member state Assembly. The results of elections will be out on March 3.

Assam BJP minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, one of the BJP's main men in-charge of the party in Tripura, said that his party would bag 35-40 seats in the elections. He also predicted that incumbent chief minister Manik Sarkar would lose polls from his constituency, Dhanpur.

Sarma and his party colleagues Ram Madhav, Sunil Deodhar and Biplab Kumar Deb are being given credit for the resurgence of the BJP in the left bastion.

"I think as of now we are comfortably getting 35 (out of 60) seats. But there are still 10 seats which are marginal, which can go either way. Presuming we get 5 out of those 10 seats, even then we should end up with around 40 seats," Sarma told News18.

"There is a strong anti-incumbency wave against the CPI(M). There's speculation that even CM Sarkar may lose his Dhanpur seat. If that happens then you may see a surprising result, something which I am not ruling out. But as a political animal, I am predicting that we will be in the range of 35-40 seats," he added.

To ouster the 25-year-old Left Front government from Tripura, the BJP has stitched an alliance with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT). Several prominent national leaders of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party president Amit Shah, have campaigned in the poll-bound state.

Deb, the president of BJP in Tripura, also echoed Sarma's views. He said voters of the state would reject the incumbent CPI(M)-led Left Front government and choose the BJP.

"I wish we get all the seats. However, I will be happy with whatever mandate people give us," Deb said. He added that the Left parties wouldn't get more than four to five seats.

The high-decibel campaign in Tripura ended on Friday where the BJP is making a determined bid to demolish the Left Front government.

The BJP has never been a major player in Tripura, which hitherto has witnessed only a battle between the Left Front and the Congress. But the Congress campaign has not been aggressive this time with party chief Rahul Gandhi addressing rallies only on the last day of campaign in the state on Friday.

The northeast region is witnessing a steady flow of national leaders to its soil as two more states--Meghalaya and Nagaland--are also going to vote on February 27. The results of all the three assembly elections will be out on March 3.

OneIndia News