Congress MLA Birajit Sinha has unleashed a scathing verbal attack against the CPIM party, including former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and the Leader of the Opposition, Jiten Choudhury. This outburst followed Jiten Choudhury’s remarks made at a public gathering during the Kailashahar Sub-Division Committee Conference on December 17 of the previous year, targeting both the Congress party and Birajit Sinha personally.
In response, Sinha convened a press conference at the Kailashahar Congress Bhavan, organized by the Unakoti District Congress. Joining him were notable figures such as Unakoti District Congress Chairman Mohammad Badaruz Zaman, State Congress General Secretary Rudraendu Bhattacharya, Kailashahar Block Congress Chairman Ashish Sengupta, and two Congress leaders: Laxmi Namah, Chairperson of the Gournagar Panchayat Samiti, and the female head of Phoolbari Kandi village.
At the CPIM public rally, Jiten Choudhury had claimed that Sinha’s victory in the 2023 Assembly elections was the result of the alliance with CPIM and their voter support.
Sinha countered this assertion with vigor at the press conference, stating that he had won six elections from Kailashahar, defeating CPIM candidates five times, including a minister, a Hindu leader, and two Muslim leaders from the party.
Sinha emphasized that his 2023 electoral success was independent of alliances, even citing his lead in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Kailashahar without CPIM support.
He argued that his vote share naturally increased in 2023 due to the alliance but maintained that he would have won regardless.
The Congress MLA lambasted Choudhury for contesting from a general seat in Sabroom in 2023, even as he is a tribal leader. Pointing out that Choudhury won by a mere 200-250 votes, Sinha suggested that had TIPRA Motha’s Pradyot Kishore fielded a candidate against him, Choudhury’s defeat would have been by a significant margin – this highlights the CPIM’s dwindling support base.
Sinha also took a jibe at the CPIM’s presence in India, noting their absence from national politics except in Kerala. Sinha pointed out, the 2023 Assembly elections results where CPIM captured only 24% of the vote across 47 seats, while Congress, with 13 seats, secured 39% against BJP’s 40%, with the BJP-IPFT alliance managing 41%.
Birajit Sinha also made explosive revelations about the treatment meted out to former CM and Rajya Sabha member Sudhir Ranjan Majumdar of Congress by the previous CPIM government, who was not provided with even basic support.
He also questioned the source of Manik Sarkar’s current luxurious lifestyle, including his car and duplex, hinting at hypocrisy in critiquing others.
Sinha claimed CPIM is losing touch with grassroots support yet making grandiose claims, ending with a sardonic ‘just wait and see’.
(Tripura, Northeast)
