Agartala, November 2: The Left Front has kept the possibility of an electoral understanding with Congress and other democratic and secular parties open for the upcoming urban local body elections in Tripura, with the stated objective of preventing a division of anti-BJP votes.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front on Monday filed nominations in the DM West Tripura district for 26 of the 51 seats in the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), while keeping the remaining 25 seats open as discussions with other opposition parties are underway.
CPI(M) state secretary and Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chowdhury, speaking to reporters in the sidelines of the nomination filing, said discussions were continuing with democratic and secular parties to explore possibilities of electoral coordination in the remaining constituencies.
“In these 25 seats, some dialogue is going on with democratic and secular parties. We have been making efforts to prevent the division of anti-BJP votes,” Chowdhury said, indicating that the Left Front was keeping the door open for a broader opposition understanding.
His remarks come amid growing political speculation about a possible understanding between the Left Front and Congress following their recent joint protest rally in Agartala under the banner of the INDIA bloc against the Election Commission of India and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Without announcing any formal seat-sharing arrangement, Chowdhury said the Left Front wanted all democratic and secular forces to come together to ensure that voters could exercise their franchise freely and a genuinely elected municipal corporation was formed.
Referring to the 2021 urban local body elections, he alleged that the polls had been farcical in several places and claimed that voters were denied a genuine opportunity to exercise their democratic rights.
Outlining the Left Front’s electoral agenda, Chowdhury said restoration of democracy, protection of voting rights, freedom of expression and accountability in local governance would be among its principal priorities.
He also alleged that large-scale corruption and misuse of public funds had taken place during the BJP’s tenure and accused the ruling party of allowing forces outside democratic institutions to exercise influence over the functioning of civic bodies.
“Our emphasis would be to put in place a body that is answerable, accountable and responsible to the people. That is our agenda,” he said.
The Left Front’s decision to file nominations for only 26 AMC seats while leaving the remaining constituencies open for negotiations is being seen as an indication that the opposition parties are exploring the possibility of avoiding a multi-cornered contest against the BJP-led NDA alliance in the forthcoming civic polls.
