CPI(M) couldn't counter BJP's populist campaign in Tripura in 2018, concedes Manik Sarkar

Former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said that the CPI(M)-led Left Front could not counter the BJP's populist campaign in the run-up to the 2018 assembly elections.

In 2018, the BJP, which received less than 2% of the state's votes, ousted the Left Front administration after 25 years in power by capturing 36 seats in the assembly of 60 members.

According to Sarkar, the BJP promised employment for young people, increased possibilities under MGNREGA for the underprivileged, and wages for teachers and government employees that were in line with the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission in its vision paper released before the election.

Each family has, on average, five to six individuals, and the breadwinner acts as the family's natural leader and influencer.

He noted that there are 2 lakh government workers and pensioners in Tripura.

The head of the opposition, Sarkar, asserted that the manner the BJP projected its vision statement, aiming to include all facets of society, had misled the populace.

"To assure the Communists' loss in Tripura, all anti-Left political forces gathered under the BJP's wing.
We were unable to convince the populace that the BJP had made false promises, he said.

It will be wrong if one thinks that the BJP won the election because of RSS and its organisational might, he said.
Sarkar asserted that both official intelligence agencies and the BJP's internal evaluation had revealed "all is not well" in the party's administration of the state in the Northeast.

They comprehend that if the BJP competes in the polls with the current faces, it will lose the 2023 assembly election.
Because of this, the chief minister (Biplab Deb), who had previously stated that he would hold the position till 2047, was unexpectedly ousted," he remarked.

Sarkar claimed that by breaking its commitments to the populace, the BJP had misled them.
Rebati Tripura, the state's BJP vice-president, rejected the accusation and asserted that the party not only carried out the plans outlined in the vision document but also carried out various forms of development activity.

On the change in guard in the state, Rebati said, "He (Biplab Deb) has been made the party's in-charge of Haryana and Rajya Sabha nominee. The party might have other plans for the former chief minister."