AGARTALA: The first thought about the February 14 assembly polls inTripura is whether the Left's outstanding run in the state will continue. Since attaining statehood in 1972, Tripura has got six Left Front governments from eight elections. Four of those mandates came in succession.
The key reason for the Left's success is its stranglehold on rural Tripura, which comprises 83% of the state's total area. These are largely tribal areas with poor basic amenities of health, education, drinking water and infrastructure. Tribals constitute 31% of the state's 36.71 lakh population. Tripuri, the biggest tribal group, makes up about 54% of the tribal population. There are 19 other groups, including the Reangs, Jamatias, Chakmas, Halams and Mogs.
CPM state secretary and central committee member Bijon Dhar believes that the Left can consolidate its position further in the rural belt and will win the polls with an even bigger margin this time. "Our rural base was not built in a day," Dhar says. "It took a long struggle, starting with the education movement in 1945. Then came the movement for democratic rule by the ballot. It was during the movement for people's education under Dasharath Deb that our base started expanding from 1950."
Statistics show the Left Front's dominant performance in tribal areas: in the 2008 assembly elections, it won 19 out of 20 seats reserved for scheduled tribes; in the 2010 polls to the Autonomous District Council for the tribals, the Left swept all the 28 seats; in the 2011 elections, it won 472 of the 527 village committees seats in the tribal areas.
But there has also been opposition from the tribals — in the form of militancy. "Tribal disturbances have been engineered by the Congress," says Dhar. "The Left has been pro-tribal. Whenever there was a rift between tribals and non-tribals, the Congress gained. There were riots during the Left rule in 1979; there was bloodshed again in 1980, with the militants joining in."
Rights activist and director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights, Suhas Chakma, agrees that tribals form the base for the Left in Tripura. But how much the tribals have benefited as a result is a different question. "The Congress, despite having an election alliance with a tribal group like the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra, has not been able to come up with any alternative for the tribals." So, next month's polls could well go according to the script so far in the state.
Advantage Left
The Left has formed six of the eight governments in Tripura
1972 Congress
1977 Left Front
1983 Left Front
1988 Congress
1993 Left Front
1998 Left Front
2003 Left Front
2008 Left Front
The key reason for the Left's success is its stranglehold on rural Tripura, which comprises 83% of the state's total area. These are largely tribal areas with poor basic amenities of health, education, drinking water and infrastructure. Tribals constitute 31% of the state's 36.71 lakh population. Tripuri, the biggest tribal group, makes up about 54% of the tribal population. There are 19 other groups, including the Reangs, Jamatias, Chakmas, Halams and Mogs.
CPM state secretary and central committee member Bijon Dhar believes that the Left can consolidate its position further in the rural belt and will win the polls with an even bigger margin this time. "Our rural base was not built in a day," Dhar says. "It took a long struggle, starting with the education movement in 1945. Then came the movement for democratic rule by the ballot. It was during the movement for people's education under Dasharath Deb that our base started expanding from 1950."
Statistics show the Left Front's dominant performance in tribal areas: in the 2008 assembly elections, it won 19 out of 20 seats reserved for scheduled tribes; in the 2010 polls to the Autonomous District Council for the tribals, the Left swept all the 28 seats; in the 2011 elections, it won 472 of the 527 village committees seats in the tribal areas.
But there has also been opposition from the tribals — in the form of militancy. "Tribal disturbances have been engineered by the Congress," says Dhar. "The Left has been pro-tribal. Whenever there was a rift between tribals and non-tribals, the Congress gained. There were riots during the Left rule in 1979; there was bloodshed again in 1980, with the militants joining in."
Rights activist and director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights, Suhas Chakma, agrees that tribals form the base for the Left in Tripura. But how much the tribals have benefited as a result is a different question. "The Congress, despite having an election alliance with a tribal group like the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra, has not been able to come up with any alternative for the tribals." So, next month's polls could well go according to the script so far in the state.
Advantage Left
The Left has formed six of the eight governments in Tripura
1972 Congress
1977 Left Front
1983 Left Front
1988 Congress
1993 Left Front
1998 Left Front
2003 Left Front
2008 Left Front
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