Agartala, August 16: In the midst of ongoing deliberations among opposition parties CPIM, Congress, and TIPRA Motha regarding their support for the CPIM candidates previously announced for the upcoming by-elections in the Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly constituencies, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now officially disclosed its selections.
Rajib Bhattacharjee, the BJP state president of Tripura, revealed that Taffajal Hussain has been nominated for the Boxanagar assembly seat, while Bindu Debnath has been chosen for the Dhanpur segment. The announcement came during a commemorative event at the BJP headquarters in Agartala, where tributes were paid to the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the fifth anniversary of his passing.
Taffajal Hussain who had previously contested from the Boxanagar assembly constituency in the general assembly elections earlier this year is a local leader in Boxanagar, and Bindu Debnath serves as the party’s mandal president in Dhanpur.
The by-elections for the Boxanagar and Dhanpur seats were necessitated by the unfortunate demise of CPIM MLA Samsul Haque and the resignation of Union Minister Pratima Bhowmik, who originally won from Dhanpur but stepped down to retain her central position.
In the Boxanagar constituency, during last assembly election CPIM candidate Haque had emerged victorious with 19,404 votes, while BJP’s Tafajjal Hossain then secured the second position with 14,555 votes. Similarly, in the Dhanpur constituency, BJP’s candidate Pratima Bhowmik clinched victory with 19,148 votes, followed by CPIM’s Kaushik Chanda with 15,648 votes in the second position.
TIPRA Motha party’s candidates, Abu Khayer Miah and Amiya Dayal Notia, secured the third position in both constituencies with 3,010 and 8,671 votes respectively.
Motha, which had engaged in discussions with CPIM and Congress last week, appears inclined not to contest the election, aiming to consolidate the anti-BJP opposition vote. This development raises concerns for the ruling party.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has delineated the by-election schedule, with nomination submissions open from August 10 to August 17, scrutiny of nominations on August 18, withdrawal of candidacies by August 21, polling scheduled for September 5, vote counting on September 8, and the entire electoral process expected to conclude by September 10.
A total of 93,234 eligible voters are set to participate in the elections across both constituencies, comprising 43,087 voters in Boxanagar and 50,147 voters in the Dhanpur assembly segment. Among these, Boxanagar has 20,921 registered women voters, while Dhanpur has 24,203 registered women voters.
