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How the Marxist fort fell to BJP onslaught?

By Prabir Sil

AGARTALA, March 3 - Finally it fell on BJP to break the stranglehold of CPI (M) in Tripura for the past twenty five years. In the last Assembly polls BJP had secured less than two per cent votes and the party seemed to have consigned to the role of also-rans in Tripura�s electoral landscape.

But come 2014 and things seemed to be taking a different contour. Modi magic catapulted BJP to power at Centre and there was a countrywide political earthquake. This was followed by BJP�s assumption of power in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and then Manipur.

This had come as a major boost for the party opposed to CPI (M). Further, the people were looking for a change with Congress, the main opposition in Tripura, failing them because of the party�s corruption, bankruptcy and self-seeking leadership. The RSS�s �pracharak� Sunil Deodhar had been appointed as �pravari�, followed by the installation of young Biplab Deb as BJP State party chief. Both worked to lay the foundation of BJP in the hilly interiors of the State over the past two years.

The central BJP leadership had seen through the weaknesses of the Left Front in Tripura and formulated strategy to pip the CPI (M) led Left Front to the post. The party was also helped by RSS and its frontal organisations.

Then BJP�s stalwarts, Ram Madhav, Himanta Biswa Sarma and a large number of party�s central leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi toured the State extensively.

BJP�s task was made easier by the follies of Left Front over the past two decades. This included the failure of the Left to solve the severe unemployment problem. Out of 38 lakh estimated population of the State, eight lakh are registered unemployed. This was magnified by job loss of thousands of teachers and employees because of faulty employment policy, gross partisanship of cadres and massive corruption. It was more or less clear that the Left Front would find the going difficult but no remedial action was taken to cope with the tide of anti-incumbency.

The Left Front�s last hope that Congress would cut into anti-Left votes to thwart the BJP finally failed to materialise. In the end the near total alienation of the party�s traditional tribal vote bank coupled with all-round dissatisfaction amongst the people sounded the death knell of the fabled Front. What proves the level of people�s discontent against the Left Front is the huge margin of victories achieved by BJP, especially in West district.

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