Dismal show in Tripura by-polls leaves Trinamool clueless
The poor performance by the Trinamool Congress in the by-polls in four assembly constituencies in Tripura, results of which were declared on Sunday, has left the party leadership clueless about their plan of action for the organisation's expansion in the country's northeastern region in the coming days.
The question that is also haunting the party leadership is whether these results are signs of what the Trinamool Congress could be facing in the Tripura assembly polls next year.
The by-polls were held in four assembly seats in Tripura -- Agartala, Jubarajnagar, Surma and Town Bordowali. Chief Minister Manik Saha contested from Town Bordowali and has won.
As per the results, Trinamool Congress has finished fourth in all the four assembly constituencies where the by-polls were held.
In Agartala and Town Bordowali constituencies, the votes secured by Trinamool Congress have not even crossed the 1,000-mark. In four constituencies, the deposits of Trinamool Congress candidates have been forfeited.
A senior member of the West Bengal cabinet, on the condition of anonymity, told IANS that from the results "it is clear that in none of these four constituencies in Tripura, the voters considered us even as the main opposition".
"If this is an early indication, our probable performance in the 2023 Tripura assembly polls is a foregone conclusion," he said.
Trinamool Congress national general secretary and party MP, Abhishek Banerjee, while accepting the defeat said that this was not the real reflection of the people's mandate in Tripura by-polls.
"There were massive election malpractices on the polling day. Our agents were beaten up and thrown out of the polling booths... but we accept the verdict of the people," he said.
However, he was silent on why in all these four constituencies, his party finished in fourth position and the Trinamool Congress candidates got their deposits forfeited.
Trinamool's West Bengal general secretary and party spokesman, Kunal Ghosh on Sunday, however, presented an unconventional analysis on the party's disastrous performance in the Tripura by-polls.
"The growing popularity of Trinamool Congress in Tripura has not only left BJP worried but also the CPI-M and Congress. So, both CPI-M and Congress provided a clandestine cushion to BJP in the Tripura by-polls. But the results would be different in the 2023 assembly polls," Ghosh said.
BJP's West Bengal unit president and party MP, Sukanta Majumdar said Trinamool Congress just went to play the role of cheerleader in Tripura.
"The results have proved that. Now the Trinamool Congress leaders are posing weird logic of BJP- CPI-M - Congress understanding to conceal their own failures," Majumdar said.