AGARTALA: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s decision to contest all 28 TTAADC constituencies alone, abandoning alliances with both IPFT and TIPRA Motha over seat-sharing disagreements, cost the party dearly.
Following the ADC elections results, Pradesh Congress President Asish Kumar Saha and Leader of Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury alleged on Friday, as results confirmed a four-seat finish that has left the ruling party’s political managers with difficult questions.
While addressing the media, Chaudhury said Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha bore direct responsibility for the outcome. According to him, the chief minister had spent five years shielding TIPRA Motha from accountability for poor performance in the hills and covering up irregularities in ADC administration.
“Manik Saha helped manufacture this result. We cannot call it rigged. That has to be acknowledged,” he said.
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The CPI(M) state secretary also congratulated the winning candidates of both TIPRA Motha and the BJP before adding that his own party had once again failed to open its account in the hills. “It is true that CPI(M) could not win a seat in the hills this time either,” he said.
He was equally dismissive of TIPRA Motha’s long-term prospects. “This is a party built around one person. Beyond emotion, they have no programme. Every six or seven months they come up with a new slogan to ride the mood. A party like that cannot sustain political relevance in the days ahead,” he said.
Chaudhury also addressed the failure of Gana Mukti Parishad, saying that money and emotion had temporarily blunted even ideologically grounded political forces. “That is the experience of the country’s current politics,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pradesh Congress President Saha took a different line. “The plan was drawn up in Delhi. What we saw in the results is its execution,” he said, describing the BJP as “politically foolish” for breaking its alliances and contesting alone.
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Saha also said the party had made some progress in reaching out to tribal voters on development issues during the campaign. He claimed Congress had increased its vote margin in the hills despite drawing a blank and said the party’s fight for tribal rights would continue.
“Once elections are over, every political party has a duty to ensure that people can live peacefully and that administration functions properly,” he added.