AGARTALA, March 3 - Riding on the Modi magic and anti-incumbency factor, the BJP secured a stunning victory in Tripura by ousting a 25-year-old Leftist rule.
While the BJP alone won 35 Assembly constituencies, its ally � Indigenous People�s Front of Tripura (IPFT) won eight seats giving the combine an absolute majority in the 60-member Assembly. The Left Front managed to win only in 16 seats.
Although, there was no official confirmation, it has been learnt that the CPI(M) alone polled more than 45 per cent share while the BJP secured 41.8 per cent and IPFT bagged 7.6 per cent vote share.
A newly floated party, IPFT has played a key role in the stunning result as it won eight Assembly seats reserved for ST out of total nine allotted seats. Besides, populist election manifesto, four rallies addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and rigorous activities by the RSS seemed to work for the saffron party�s miracle result in the Leftist bastion.
Most importantly, the BJP and its ally IPFT ensured a clean sweep in the Assembly elections in West Tripura
district where the combine won all the 14 seats.
In Dhalai and Khowai district too, the BJP-led combine secured a massive win by defeating the �mighty� CPI(M)-led Left Front. In Dhalai district, the combine won all the six constituencies, while the Left scored one out of total six seats in Khowai district.
While CPI(M) stalwarts like ministers Manik Dey, Aghore Debbarma and Deputy Speaker Pabitra Kar lost the elections, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, considered party�s poster boy, managed to take a considerable lead in the 4th round. The counting in Dhanpur constituency has been halted till the last report came in.
BJP state president Biplab Deb, who won the election by a margin of 9,549 votes, said the party-led government would fulfil all its promises in the poll manifesto.
�The party will fulfil all promises given in our poll manifesto... the massive mandate is the testimony of a new dawn in Tripura,� he told the media soon after his victory.
�It will be easy to negotiate with the Centre if the state has the same party-led government... As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already assured of providing all possible help, I will certainly seek his support for betterment of the state,� he said.
