Tripura votes tomorrow with motley parties trying to beat the BJP

New Delhi: Tripura is going to polls on February 16 as the high voltage campaign ended on Tuesday with the BJP finding itself facing the intimidating alliance of CPIM and the Congress.

The saffron party is also bracing up for threats of smaller parties including TMC and the newly formed Tipra Motha eating into its votes.

Polling to the 60-member assembly will take place in 3,328 booths of the state with 28.13 lakh voters lining up to vote to decide the fate of 259 candidates as results come out on March 3.

The BJP is contesting 55 assembly seats notably with12 women candidates, while its ally IPFT takes six constituencies alongside a friendly fight with the BJP in one seat.

The bonhomie between the CPIM and the Congress is a talking point in the polls after the left chose to fight in 47 seats, allowing the Congress in 13 constituencies.

The TMC is focusing on 28 constituencies with the hopes of carving out its presence in the state.

The newly formed Tipra Motha led by former royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma is riding on the confidence of having won 18 of the 30 seats in the 2021 elections for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).

The Tipra Motha has promised to fight for 'Greater Tipraland', a separate state for the state's indigenous people.

Of the 42 seats it is contesting, the Tipra Motha hopes to make good in the 20 tribal-dominated seats.

The Tipra Motha campaigns on the idea of the indigenous people becoming a minority in their homeland from the influx of Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, CPI(M) leaders including Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat and former CM Manik Sarkar campaigned in the state.

Congress leaders Adhir Chowdhury, Dipa Dasmunshi and AICC general secretary Ajay Kumar showed up in the state.