After finalizing candidates for two Lok Sabha seats of Tripura and candidate for by-elections to 7-Ramnagar assembly constituency, all the political parties in Tripura joined INDIA bloc has formed a 25-members State Level Election Campaign Committee to strengthen their campaigns in every booth of the state against BJP candidates.

Soon after the first meeting of eight parties of INDIA bloc at Agartala press club including main opposition CPI (M), Congress, all Left parties including CPI (ML), Gana Macha and a tribal based state political party, Tripura Peoples Party (TPP), all leaders jointly addressed the media to highlight their political campaigns against ruling party.

Congress working committee member and party MLA Sudip Roy Barma said that they formed a 25-member election management committee with him and CPI (M) state Secretary Jitendra Chaudhury as the joint convener.

Addressing the media, senior Congress leader and MLA Sudip Roy Barman terming the BJP-led NDA as a “fascist force”, Roy Barma urged the voters to apply their mind and vote “judiciously” in favour of the INDIA bloc candidates in the Lok Sabha elections against the ruling BJP.

“Despite having differences on ideological grounds, we come together to save the Constitution, democracy, secularism and federal nature of the country besides for the sake of the overall interest of the people,” Roy Barma, a former minister, told the media.

Sudip highlighting the 10 years rule of BJP government led by Narendra Modi claimed that despite many pre-poll assurance before general elections of the country in 2014, BJP government is last ten years not fulfilled any commitments, but they made life of common people miserable.

Highlighting the Congress’s 5 ‘nyay’, 25 guarantees, Sudip said that leaders of INDIA bloc have decided to reach out to every household with its five "Nyay" guarantees for the youth, women, workers, farmers and the marginalized sections.

Asserting that the country is seeking a change, Sudip said the party’s Lok Sabha election manifesto would focus on ensuring justice to people based on five “Nyay pillars” and claimed the BJP’s ‘guarantees’ would meet the same fate as the ‘India Shining’ slogan of 2004.

He derided BJP’s “guarantees” as “jumlas” (rhetoric) and “a bunch of lies”. The party is fighting the elections on the issue of ‘five nyay’ (justices) — ‘Bhagidari Nyay’, ‘Kisan Nyay’, ‘Nari Nyay’, ‘Shramik Nyay’ and ‘Yuva Nyay’ — giving 25 guarantees, five under each category, that have been announced by the Congress president and Rahul Gandhi.

Roy Barman said that since inception Modi government by using all government agencies and “misuse” of agencies including, ED, CBI, Income Tax are only continuously destabilizing the opposition parties, disturbing state governments and making BJP led government through horse-trading. He said that the people of the country and Tripura had seen enough poll gimmicks of BJP and this time they are ready to give BJP a befitting reply for its betrayal politics.

Sudip strongly criticized the leader of Tipra-Motha for the betrayal politics of tribal population of the state and alleged their leaders after so called slogans, finally fielded his elder sister in the poll fray for their personal gain. The leadership of Tipra-Motha over their betrayal politics with lakhs of tribal people in the state and by dividing the anti-BJP votes in last Assembly elections secured the victory of BJP in the elections. But, after elections creating dramas in the name of ‘Greater Tipraland’, they had signed in an agreement with centre and Tripura government, which has also another poll gimmick to fool the innocent tribals. “Since inception, Tipra-Motha is playing with sentiments of tribals, but now the people of Tripura understand their betrayal and beneficial politics,” said Sudip and claimed people of the state are now ready to give them a befitting reply along with their alliance partner BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

As nominee of the INDIA bloc, former CPI(M) MLA Rajendra Reang would contest in the Tripura East Lok Sabha seat (ST) while Tripura state Congress President Ashish Kumar Saha, also former MLA, would fight from the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP won both seats for the first time in the last elections in 2019, with Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik (Tripura West) and teacher-turned-politician Rebati Tripura (Tripura East) emerging triumphant.

However, both have been dropped this time and ‘Maharani’ Kriti Singh Debbarma and former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb were named for the Tripura East Lok Sabha and Tripura West seats, respectively.

A resident of Chhattisgarh, Kriti Singh Debbarma, a member of the erstwhile royal dynasty, is the elder sister of Tipra Motha supremo and royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma.

While highlighting political activities of the Tripura unit of INDIA bloc, leader of opposition and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said that day by day more and more democratic and secular forces are joining the INDIA to strengthen its fight against the dictatorship rule of BJP.

He said that  the 25-members State Level Election Campaign Committee (two joint conveners Jitendra Chaudhury and Sudip Roy Barman) will sit together on March 22 next  and will prepare a detailed campaign plan to reach every booth of the state.

He said that the INDIA bloc candidate for the by-poll of 7-Ramnagar assembly constituency, Ratan Das will file his nomination paper on March 22 next after joint gathering of all political parties supporting the bloc and in March 27 next, their candidate Ashish Kumar Saha for West Tripura parliamentary seat will file his nomination paper after big gathering of all party supporters in front of Rabindra Bhavan at Agartala.

Similarly, their candidate for East Tripura (ST reserved) seat, Rajendra Reang will file his nomination paper on March 28 after a gathering of Bloc parties at Ambassa.

Chaudhury through his clarion calls to the people of Tripura to oust the BJP government from centre has also urged the media to protect the democracy of the country through their impartial role.