Mamata Banerjee predicts TMC win in 2023 Tripura polls; BJP leader likely to jump ship

After consolidating her position in West Bengal, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee exuded confidence in TMC winning the 2023  Assembly election in Tripura. The BJP-IPFT combine is currently in power in Tripura under the leadership of Biplab Deb with 43 seats in the 60-member state Assembly. Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday, the TMC supremo opined that the welfare schemes of West Bengal should be implemented in Tripura as well.

Banerjee stated, "There is no democracy or law and order in Tripura, only goondaism and vandalism". Referring to the alleged harassment faced by TMC leaders in the state including problems over their stay in hotels, she added, "This will not go on as we will win Tripura. We want the people of the northeastern state to take benefits of the welfare schemes that are running successfully in West Bengal". 

On this occasion, she also revealed that ex-Tripura Speaker Jiten Sarkar had written a letter to her expressing his desire to join TMC. Originally from CPI(M), the veteran leader left the party in 2008 over differences with some leaders and joined Congress in 2010. While he rejoined CPI(M) in 2016, the former MLA switched over to BJP in June 2017. Sarkar's impending entry into the party comes at a time when TMC is seeking to create a base in Tripura and Assam in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Recently, All India Mahila Congress head Sushmita Dev also jumped ship to the Mamata Banerjee-led party

TMC sweeps West Bengal polls

After a hard-fought election campaign, TMC sprung a surprise by decisively winning the West Bengal election by bagging 213 seats whereas BJP could win in only 77 constituencies. The voter turnout for the seats that went to the polls in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth phases was 84.63 per cent, 86.11 per cent, 84.61 per cent, 79.90 per cent, 82.49 per cent, 79.11 per cent, 76.90 per cent and 78.32 per cent respectively. While the JP Nadda-led party won 74 more seats than the previous election, its vote share of 38.13% could not pose a challenge to TMC which garnered a vote share of 47.94%.

Though the ruling party bettered its performance compared to 2016, it suffered a minor blip as WB CM Mamata Banerjee lost from Nandigram to her BJP opponent Suvendu Adhikari. However, barring the Nandigram MLA, most other TMC leaders who had switched over to BJP prior to the election could not win their seats. Even ex-nominated Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, Union Minister Babul Supriyo and BJP Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee had to face defeat. On the other hand, the Left-Congress-ISF alliance was routed failing to win even a single seat in the polls.