2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election

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2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election
← 2013 18 February 2018 Next →
60 seats in the Tripura Legislative Assembly
31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout91.38%
  Majority party Minority party Third party
  Biplab Kumar Deb in 2018.jpg Manik Sarkar.jpg Nophoto.jpg
Leader Biplab Kumar Deb Manik Sarkar N. C. Debbarma
Party BJP CPI (M) IPFT
Alliance NDA Left Front NDA
Leader since 2016 1998 2009
Leader's seat Banamalipur Dhanpur Takarjala
Last election 0 50 0
Seats won 36[1][2] 16[1][2] 8[1][2]
Seat change Increase36 Decrease34 Increase8
Popular vote 1,025,673 992,575 1,73,603
Percentage 43.59% 42.22% 7.5%
Swing Increase41.5% Decrease5.51% Increase7.38%
Tripura 2018 assembly election.png
Chief Minister before election

Manik Sarkar
CPI (M)

Elected Chief Minister

Biplab Kumar Deb
BJP

The 2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election was held on 18 February for 59 of the state's 60 constituencies.[3] The counting of votes took place on 3 March 2018. With 43% of the vote, the BJP secured a majority of seats (36) and subsequently formed the government with Biplab Kumar Deb as Chief Minister. The former governing Left Front alliance while receiving 42.7% of the vote secured only 16 seats.

Background[]

The term of the Tripura Legislative Assembly ended on 6 March 2018.[4] Having governed Tripura since the 1998 election, the ruling Left Front alliance, under Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, sought re-election. Meanwhile, the region in general had been under the political control of the Communist Party for 25 years prior to the election, leading to the region being dubbed a "red holdout".[5]

Their primary challengers came in the form of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which under the leadership of Narendra Modi was the governing party of India on a national level.[6] The BJP is a nationalist, rightist party, whose policies directly oppose those of the Communists.[7] However, the party claimed no seats, and a mere 1.5% of the vote, in the region's previous election.[8] Despite the relatively small size of Tripura, the election took on additional significance on a national level as it was an acid test to gauge the successes of the BJP ahead of next year's general election,[9] and a chance to strip the communists, the party's "primary ideological enemy", of its stronghold.[5]

Prior to the election, a number of workers of the BJP were murdered. The BJP alleged that the murders were committed by CPI(M) members, which the party denies.[10][11][12]

Schedule[]

The Election Commission of India announced that the Legislative Assembly elections in Tripura would be held on 18 February 2018 and the results would be announced on 3 March 2018.[13]

Event Date Day
Date for nominations 24 Jan 2018 Wednesday
Last date for filing nominations 31 Jan 2018 Wednesday
Date for scrutiny of nominations 1 Feb 2018 Thursday
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures 3 Feb 2018 Saturday
Date of poll 18 Feb 2018 Sunday
Date of counting 3 Mar 2018 Saturday
Date before which the election shall be completed 5 Mar 2018 Monday

Electoral process changes[]

VVPAT-fitted EVMs was used in entire Tripura state in all polling stations in the 2018 elections, which was the first time that the entire state saw the implementation of VVPAT.[14]

The election took place in a single phase on 18 February 2018 with 89.8% voter turnout.[15] The results were announced on 3 March 2018.

Contesting parties[]

297 candidates registered to contest the election.

Party Symbol Alliance Seats contested
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) Indian Election Symbol Hammer Sickle and Star.png Left Front 57
Communist Party of India (CPI) Indian Election Symbol Ears of Corn and Sickle.png Left Front 1
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Indian Election Symbol Spade and Stoker.png Left Front 1
All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) Indian Election Symbol Lion.png Left Front 1
Indian National Congress (INC) Hand INC.svg UPA 59
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) BJP election symbol.png NDA 51
Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) Indian Election symbol Dao.svg NDA 9
Independents (IND) 27
Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) Saw.svg 15
Tripura People's Party 7
Amra Bangali Candle.svg 23
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)
All India Trinamool Congress symbol 2021.svg
 24
Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) 5
Tipraland State Party Violin.svg 9
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation Flag Logo of CPIML.png 5
North East India Development Party 1
Pragatishil Amara Bangali Samaj 1
I.P.F.T Tiprahaa (Independent) 1
Total 297

Campaign[]

The other major force in the election was the Indian National Congress, who had taken 36.5% of the popular vote in the region in 2013.[16] They are also, on a wider scale, the largest force in opposing Modi and the BJP in parliament. As such, Rahul Gandhi, in his capacity as the party's leader, campaigned in the region.[17] They were determined to prevent the BJP from seizing control on the region, as such an outcome would represent the "demise of the Left".[18]

Exit Polls[]

Polling firm Date published
BJP+ CPI(M)+ INC Others
JanKiBaat-NewsX[19] 27 January 2018 35-45 14-23 - -
CVoter[19] 27 January 2018 24-32 26-34 0-2 -
AxisMyIndia[19] 27 January 2018 44-50 9-15 - 0-3
Dinraat[20] 27 January 2018 10-19 40-49

Results[]

The incumbent Left Front government was defeated after 25 years of office out of which Manik Sarkar served for about 20 years, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura winning a large majority of seats. The Indian National Congress, which was the second largest party in the 2013 election, lost all its seats and most of its vote share.

Results by party[]

Parties and coalitions Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Contested Won +/−
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 10,25,673 43.59% 51 36 Increase36
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) 9,93,605 42.22% 57 16 Decrease34
Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) 1,73,603 7.38% 9 8 Increase8
Indian National Congress (INC) 42,100 1.79% 59 0 Decrease10
Communist Party of India (CPI) 19,352 0.82% 1 0 Decrease1
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) 17,568 0.75% 1 0 Steady
Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) 16,940 0.72% 15 0 Steady
All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) 13,115 0.56% 1 0 Steady
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) 6,989 0.3% 24 0 Steady
Independents (IND) 25 0 Steady
Other parties and coalitions 0 Steady
None of the Above (NOTA) 24,220 1.03%
Total 23,53,246 100.00 60 ±0
Valid votes 23,53,246 99.81
Invalid votes 4,474 0.19
Votes cast / turnout 23,57,720 91.38
Abstentions 2,22,393 8.62
Registered voters 25,80,113

Results[]

No. Constituency Winner Party Votes Runner-up Party Votes Margin
1 Simna Brishaketu Debbarma IPFT 15977 Pranab Debbarma CPI (M) 14014 1963
2 Mohanpur Ratan Lal Nath BJP 22516 Subhas Chandra Debnath CPI (M) 17340 5176
3 Bamutia Krishnadhan Das BJP 20014 Haricharan Sarkar CPI (M) 19042 972
4 Barjala BJP 22052 Jhumu Sarkar CPI (M) 15825 6227
5 Khayerpur BJP 25496 Pabitra Kar CPI (M) 18457 7039
6 Agartala Sudip Roy Barman BJP 25234 Krishna Majumder CPI (M) 17852 7382
7 Ramnagar BJP 21092 Ratan Das CPI (M) 16237 4855
8 Town Bordowali Asish Kumar Saha BJP 24293 Biswanath Saha AIFB 13115 11178
9 Banamalipur Biplab Kumar Deb BJP 21755 Amal Chakraborty CPI (M) 12206 9549
10 Majlishpur BJP 23249 Manik Dey CPI (M) 19359 3890
11 Mandaibazar IPFT 21381 Monoranjan Debbarma CPI (M) 15517 5864
12 Takarjala Narendra Chandra Debbarma IPFT 22056 Ramendra Debbarma CPI (M) 9404 12652
13 Pratapgarh Rebati Mohan Das BJP 25834 Ramu Das CPI (M) 22686 3148
14 Badharghat Dilip Sarkar BJP 28561 Jharna Das(Baidya) CPI (M) 23113 5448
15 Kamalasagar CPI (M) 18847 Arun Bhowmik BJP 16968 1879
16 Bishalgarh Bhanu Lal Saha CPI (M) 21254 Nitai Chaudhuri BJP 20488 766
17 Golaghati BJP 19228 Keshab Debbarma CPI (M) 15730 3498
18 Suryamaninagar BJP 24874 Rajkumar Choudhury CPI (M) 20307 4567
19 Charilam Jishnu Deb Burman BJP 26580 Palash Debbarma CPI (M) 1030 25550
20 Boxanagar CPI (M) 19862 Baharul Islam Majumder BJP 11847 8015
21 Nalchar BJP 19261 Tapan Chandra Das CPI (M) 18810 451
22 Sonamura Shyamal Chakraborty CPI (M) 19275 Subal Bhowmik BJP 15843 3432
23 Dhanpur Manik Sarkar CPI (M) 22176 Pratima Bhoumik BJP 16735 5441
24 Ramchandraghat Prasanta Debbarma IPFT 19439 Padma Kumar Debbarma CPI (M) 15204 4235
25 Khowai CPI (M) 20629 Amit Rakshit BJP 17893 2736
26 Asharambari Mevar Kumar Jamatia IPFT 19188 Aghore Debbarma CPI (M) 12201 6987
27 Kalyanpur-Pramodenagar BJP 20293 Manindra Chandra Das CPI (M) 17152 3141
28 Teliamura Kalyani Roy BJP 22077 Gouri Das CPI (M) 14898 7179
29 Krishnapur Atul Debbarma BJP 16730 Khagendra Jamatia CPI (M) 14735 1995
30 Bagma BJP 24074 Naresh Chandra Jamatia CPI (M) 21241 2833
31 Radhakishorpur Pranjit Singha Roy BJP 22414 Srikanta Datta RSP 17568 4846
32 Matarbari BJP 23069 Madhab Chandra Saha CPI (M) 21500 1569
33 Kakraban-Salgarh Ratan Bhowmik CPI (M) 24835 Jitendra Majumder BJP 21068 3767
34 Rajnagar CPI (M) 22004 Bibhishan Chandra Das BJP 16291 5713
35 Belonia BJP 19307 Basudev Majumder CPI (M) 18554 753
36 Santirbazar BJP 21701 Manindra Reang CPI 19352 2349
37 Hrishyamukh Badal Choudhury CPI (M) 22673 Ashesh Baidya BJP 16343 6330
38 Jolaibari Jashabir Tripura CPI (M) 21160 Ankya Mog Choudhuri BJP 19592 1568
39 Manu Pravat Chowdhury CPI (M) 19432 Dhananjoy Tripura IPFT 19239 193
40 Sabroom Shankar Roy BJP 21059 Rita Kar Majumder CPI (M) 18877 2182
41 Ampinagar IPFT 18202 Daniel Jamatia CPI (M) 13255 4947
42 Amarpur BJP 18970 Parimal Debnath CPI (M) 17954 1016
43 Karbook BJP 15622 Priyamani Debbarma CPI (M) 14825 797
44 Raima Valley IPFT 18673 Lalit Mohan Tripura CPI (M) 16751 1922
45 Kamalpur Manoj Kanti Deb BJP 20165 Bijoy Laxmi Singha CPI (M) 17206 2959
46 Surma BJP 20767 Anjan Das CPI (M) 18057 2710
47 Ambassa BJP 20842 Bharat Reang CPI (M) 17257 3585
48 Karmachhara Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl BJP 19397 Umakanta Tripura CPI (M) 12061 7336
49 Chawamanu Shambhulal Chakma BJP 18290 Nirajoy Tripura CPI (M) 14535 3755
50 Pabiachhara BJP 22815 Samiran Malakar CPI (M) 16988 5827
51 Fatikroy BJP 19512 Tunubala Malakar CPI (M) 16683 2829
52 Chandipur CPI (M) 18545 Kaberi Singha BJP 18143 402
53 Kailashahar CPI (M) 18093 Nitish De BJP 13259 4834
54 Kadamtala-Kurti Islam Uddin CPI (M) 20721 Tinku Roy BJP 13839 6882
55 Bagbassa CPI (M) 18001 Pradip Kumar Nath BJP 17731 270
56 Dharmanagar Biswa Bandhu Sen BJP 21357 Abhijit De CPI (M) 14070 7287
57 Jubarajnagar Ramendra Chandra Debnath CPI (M) 18147 Jadab Lal Debnath BJP 17498 649
58 Panisagar Binoy Bhushan Das BJP 15892 Ajit Kumar Das CPI (M) 15331 561
59 Pencharthal Santana Chakma BJP 17743 Anil Chakma CPI (M) 16370 1373
60 Kanchanpur IPFT 19448 Rajendra Reang CPI (M) 15317 4131

Highlights[]

No. of Constituencies[]

Type of Constituencies GEN SC ST Total
No. of Constituencies 30 10 20 60

[21]

Electors[]

Men Women Third gender Total
No.of Electors 1,311,983 1,268,119 11 2,580,113
No.of Electors who Voted 1,146,889 1,159,086 2 2,305,977
Polling Percentage 87.42% 91.40% 18.00% 89.38%

[21]

Performance of Women Candidates[]

Men Women Total
No.of Contestants 273 24 297
Elected 57 03 60

[21]

Reactions[]

The BJP chose Biplab Kumar Deb to be the next Chief Minister. He said: "I am ready to take the responsibility. I will not run away from taking the responsibility. I have already been given a bigger responsibility, the party's state presidentship, which I have been fulfilling to the best of my ability. People responded favourably to our call 'Chalo Paltai' (let's change)." He claimed that having the same party in the central government and at the state level "helps in faster development." He further called for restraint in post-electoral violence: "We do not believe in the politics of vengeance and hatred, so we appeal to the people to maintain peace and calm." In addition he asserted that "the word development does not exist in the dictionary of the CPI-M. Our government will provide good governance and time-bound implementation of all developmental works."[22]

Former Chief Minister of Kerala and senior CPI(M) leader V. S. Achuthanandan called for the party's leadership to ally with "secular forces" to defeat the Sangh Parivar: "The country is facing serious challenges. The Congress, which had ruled for decades in the post-independence period, has become weaker now. He supported party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury's call for an "understanding" with the INC as "a tactical move with secular forces was necessary."[23] The party's provincial minister claimed that the BJP had "misused" money and power at the central government in winning the election and that the "challenge to the democracy and the national integrity." Another CPM figure M. V. Jayarajan, private secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, claimed that the INC voters and leaders were moving towards the BJP and that the result should "not be viewed lightly and all the patriots in the country have the responsibility to check and isolate any effort of the communal forces gaining strength in the country.[23] Politburo member M. A. Baby said that while the result was "unexpected", he did "respect the verdict of the people." He added: "However, there is a decline of 6-7 per cent vote share of the Left front. It's a concern...how the erosion has taken place and why this happened will be dispassionately examined by the party in Tripura and the national leadership."[24]

Media

It was suggested that in order to defeat the BJP, other opposition parties would have to unite.[25]

Charilam bypoll[]

Polling for the seat of Charilam was postponed to 12 March 2018 after the death of Communist Party of India (Marxist) incumbent candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma. The CPI(M) withdrew their candidate for the bypoll claiming that there was an increase in violence.[citation needed]

Despite this, the CPI(M) candidate continued to be present on the ballot paper, and subsequently lost their deposit.[26][27]

Tripura Legislative Assembly Bypoll, 2018: Charilam[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJP Jishnu Deb Burman 26,580 90.81
CPI (M) Palash Debbarma 1030 3.51
INC Arjun Debbarma 775 2.64
INPT Uma Shankar Debbarma 685 2.34
Independent Jyotilal Debbarma 198 0.67 N/A
Majority 25,550 87.29 25550
Turnout
Registered electors
BJP gain from CPI (M) Swing

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Tripura Assembly election results". statisticstimes.com.
  2. ^ a b c "Tripura General Legislative Election 2018". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Tripura Assembly Election 2018 LIVE: 78.56% Turnout Till 9 PM, Left Front's 25-Year-Long Run Faces BJP Challenge". NDTV. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Upcoming Elections in India". Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Conquest of Tripura".
  6. ^ "Tripura polls: Communist cadres getting feel of competition from new foe BJP". United News of India. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  7. ^ Banerjee, Sumanta (16–22 July 2005). "Civilising the BJP". Economic & Political Weekly. 40 (29): 3118. JSTOR 4416896.
  8. ^ "Tripura election results 2018: Full list of winners". The Indian Express. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Modi ends communists' 25-year rule in provincial vote". South China Morning Post. 4 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Tripura: Booth president found dead, BJP alleges 12 murders by CPM". 12 February 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  11. ^ "BJP worker hacked to death in poll-bound Tripura". Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  12. ^ Saikia, Arunabh. "In poll-bound Tripura, the BJP accuses the Left of Kerala-style political killings". Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  13. ^ Sumit Mukherjee (18 January 2018). "Announcement of schedule for General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, 2018 (English / हिंदी) - Press Releases 2018". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  14. ^ "VVPAT training in Tripura".
  15. ^ "त्रिपुरा विधानसभा चुनाव में 89.8 प्रतिशत मतदान". NDTV. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  16. ^ "What really helped BJP win Tripura". The Times of India.
  17. ^ Ali, Syed Sajjad (16 February 2018). "Cong. committed to Tripura". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  18. ^ "Strong Left necessary for India: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh". 4 March 2018.
  19. ^ a b c "Exit polls predict BJP may win Tripura, consolidate position in Meghalaya and Nagaland". Times of India. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  20. ^ PTI (1 March 2018). "Tripura awaits election results as exit polls fail to give clear picture". Live Mint. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  21. ^ a b c "ECI". Election Commission of India.
  22. ^ "Gym instructor-turned-politician Biplab Kumar Deb likely to be Tripura CM - Rediff.com India News". www.rediff.com.
  23. ^ a b "After Tripura Verdict, CPI(M) Says Defeat Should Be Viewed With Seriousness". PTI. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Defeat in Tripura should be viewed with seriousness: CPM". OnManorama.
  25. ^ "What lessons the Tripura elections verdict holds for the Left". www.dailyo.in.
  26. ^ "BJP wins Tripura's Charilam assembly contested by Deputy CM after post-poll violence delayed counting - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 15 March 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  27. ^ http://ceotripura.nic.in/Docs/Form20_AC19.pdf
  28. ^ "Polling underway in Charilam Assembly seat in Tripura". India Today. Retrieved 7 June 2018.

External links[]

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