People's Democracy

People’s Victory in Tripura

Manik Sarkar

The Left Front has achieved a great victory in the just concluded elections to the state assembly. Not only have its seats increased but also its vote share. The result has been according to our expectations and definitely the Left Front was not surprised by this electoral outcome. It is the people of Tripura who deserve to be appreciated for this outcome rather than individuals like me.

One of the reasons of the success is because the Left Front approached the electorate of the state to give their mandate for lasting peace, for maintaining the secular fabric of our society, for further consolidating the democratic atmosphere and also for the continuation of the ongoing developmental process. It had also simultaneously appealed for a mandate against the anti-people policies of the Congress-led government at the centre, which people are now opposing by coming out on the streets. The people are searching for an alternative which will take care of their needs. We had appealed to them to support the Left Front not only for the state’s sake but for strengthening the struggle for an alternative at the national level and consolidating the Left and democratic forces. The people of Tripura have responded to this appeal and given their verdict very judiciously. The Left Front is grateful to them.

What these results prove is that if you deliver goods to the people with honesty and sincerity, and with whatever capability you have, the people will remain with you. That is what the Left Front has learnt from the verdict given by the people of our state. In the national political scenario there has been a move to develop a two party system, one combination led by the Congress and the other led by the BJP. These two parties may be the alternatives to each other. But for the working class, the peasantry, the downtrodden people, small traders, crores of unemployed youth, SC, ST, OBC,  religious and linguistic minorities -- the aam janata – neither of them is an alternative because they have not addressed the burning problems faced by the common people of our country. In this background, the CPI(M), together with the other Left parties, has been stressing that only a Left, democratic and secular alternative can take care of the problems of the common people. The success of the Left Front in Tripura, I would humbly state, shall obviously enthuse and galvanise the Left and democratic movement of the country.

PEOPLE’S

BEFITTING ANSWER

This election also brought out the fact that the people of Tripura have no faith in the pledges put forth by the Congress party during electioneering. The Congress party has been ruling the country for more than 55 years since independence. From the time of Pandit Nehru to the ongoing tenure of Dr Manmohan Singh, before every parliamentary election they make such promises to woo the voters, especially the poor people, the aam janata. But experience shows, whatever promises made at the time of election are immediately forgotten after getting elected. In fact, they do a volte face. At the time of election they try to woo the poor people, but after getting elected they work for the benefit of the rich. That is why the people have lost faith in their electoral promises.

The Congress party has been in government in Tripura for 27 years at a stretch since independence and then for five years they formed a coalition government. During this period also it made many promises to people before the elections but did just the opposite after getting elected. So, the people of Tripura are experienced enough and conscious to give any credence to Congress party’s hollow promises.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s statement about uprooting Left governments from everywhere in the country was nothing but a very immature comment coming from a person who is the vice president of a national political party which has been ruling the country from the centre. The people of Tripura have not taken his immature comments positively; rather they have answered him in proper fashion.

STRUGGLE

FOR PEACE

Peace in Tripura has been restored through a ceaseless and arduous struggle of the peace loving and democratic minded people of Tripura. Of course, the role of security personnel cannot be ignored but vital role was played by the people, irrespective of their caste, creed or ethnic identity. The Left countered the political and ideological plank of the extremists and at the same time the government undertook lot of developmental measures. It particularly kept in focus the hilly tribal areas from where the extremists recruited the misled boys. A number of leaders and important cadres of CPI(M) have laid down their lives at the hands of extremists. But braving all odds, they continued their struggle for peace. These have yielded positive results and peace has been restored. But there is no room for complacency. The extremists, though they have become weak and isolated, are not yet finished. They still have their hideouts inside Bangladesh and they are getting help and support from agencies like ISI and are still busy in their attempts to create trouble inside Tripura. So, the Left Front is trying its best to keep the people on alert so that the peace that has been restored cannot be further disturbed. Keeping this in mind, this has been made one of our main and major issues during the election campaign and people have responded to it positively.

In this election too, Congress has aligned with INPT, which according to the common understanding of the people of our state is the political mask of the extremist organisations. Despite knowing this, a party like Congress has aligned with it in this election too. This was nothing but shaking hands with the extremists. This has not been accepted by the peace loving masses of our state and they have made it clear through this verdict. INPT contested in 11 seats, aligning with Congress and in a clandestine connivance with extremists. They have been defeated in all the seats. But this does not mean that their support base has vanished altogether. So, the Left Front shall have to continue its political and ideological struggle against these forces so that they can be further isolated and the people who are still moving with them can be won over in right direction.

PRIORITIES BEFORE

LEFT FRONT GOVT

The Left Front has spelt out all its promises very clearly in its election manifesto.  We shall not leave any stone unturned to ensure that these promises are implemented. But it is not that easy unless we get proper and due help from the central government. Therefore we shall have to wage struggle, taking the masses with us, to snatch our due share from the unwilling hands of the central government led by the Congress party.

All the pledges that we have made in our election manifesto are equally important to us. Even then, our special focus will be on ensuring speedy development and modernisation of connectivity in all respects, including national highway, rail connectivity, air connectivity and telecommunication. All these are in the domain of the government of India. So, they shall have to help us in a proper fashion. By this time, we are becoming self-sufficient in power generation. In fact we are going to be one of the surplus states in this regard. Utilising both these, we shall try our level best for industrialisation so that we are able to generate scope of more and more employment.

(As told to Rahul Sinha of INN

in Agartala on March 04, 2013)