5 conclusions to draw from BJP's massive civic poll win in Tripura
BJP has swept the Tripura municipal elections, winning 217 out of the 222 seats contested. The party, in total, has 329 of the total 334 seats in the state. Earlier, it won 112 seats uncontested. Also, for the first time in the history of Tripura, Agartala Municipal Corporation has been left without an opposition since BJP won all the 51 seats.
BJP won all the 14 urban bodies out of the 20 contested on November 25. Mamta Banerjee’s TMC managed to win only one seat, while CPI(M) won 3. Tipra Motha, a regional party, also managed one seat. And that’s all.
We discuss five conclusions to draw from the massive win.
1. EFFECTS OF COMMUNAL VIOLENCE STILL LINGER
The results of municipal elections in Tripura do tell that scars of last month’s violence are still intact. The recent violence seems to have caused massive polarisation on the ground. There is a sense of insecurity and threat among people from both communities. The election results tell this only.
Violence in Tripura started in the last days of October after rumours of 7 Hindus being killed in Bangladesh were spread. Several mosques and houses belonging to the Muslim community were targeted. Muslims are less than 9 per cent of Tripura’s 4.2 million population, while the Hindu population is 83 per cent, BBC reported. The state is yet to heal from the wounds of violence that were inflicted last month.
2. TMC AND LEFT ALLIANCE EMERGE BIG LOSERS
The BJP has routed the opposition fair and square in the civic body elections. The opposition, TMC and the Left alliance, CPI(M), have lost more than what they think they have. Talk of CPI(M); the party was decimated on May 2 in West Bengal, and it has met a similar fate in Tripura now. Apart from Kerala, the party doesn’t have a government in any state. The writing on the wall is clear: they should work vigorously to regain the lost ground if they want to win the state back in 2023.
As for TMC, the party has a tremendous base in West Bengal, but it needs a new strategy in Tripura.
3. BIPLAB’S CHARISMA REMAINS INTACT
BJP’s high command in New Delhi can sit back and relax since the man they selected to work in Tripura has delivered more than what was expected of him. Set aside the weird remarks he makes here and there; his working style in the state is reaping dividends, and what more can BJP President JP Nadda ask him for.
4. STAGE SET FOR 2023 ASSEMBLY POLLS
As the state goes to assembly polls in 2023, civic poll win has given the BJP a fertile ground to strengthen its roots. The state, which was ruled by the CPI(M) for 25 years, elected a new BJP government in 2018. BJP and its alliance won 36 seats, getting 43 per cent vote share in the 60-seat assembly. The ruling CPI(M), led by Manik Sarkar, was left with only 16 seats and a 42.7 percent vote share.
Now, whether the people of Tripura want to go back to their former leader Manik Sarkar, or they will vote for the BJP government in 2023, next year will tell, but the BJP is already ahead in the race, thanks to its performance in the civic body elections.
5. POLARISATION ALWAYS WORKS
Don’t know who devised it, but the formula of polarisation just before an election works too well. An electorate so hopelessly divided on caste and religious lines makes the work much easier for higher-ups.