2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election
18 February 2018
60 seats in the Tripura Legislative Assembly
31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout91.38% (Decrease2.19)
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Biplab Kumar Deb Manik Sarkar N. C. Debbarma
Party BJP CPI(M) IPFT
Alliance NDA Left Front NDA
Leader since 2016 1998 2009
Leader's seat Banamalipur Dhanpur Takarjala
Last election 0 49 0
Seats won 36[1][2] 16[1][2] 8[1][2]
Seat change Increase36 Decrease33 Increase8
Popular vote 1,025,673 1,043,640 173,603
Percentage 43.59% 44.35% 7.5%
Swing Increase41.5% Decrease5.51% Increase7.38%
Chief Minister before election

Manik Sarkar
CPI(M)

 Elected Chief Minister

Biplab Kumar Deb
BJP

The 2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election was held on 18 February for 59 of the state's 60 constituencies.[3] The counting of votes took place on 3 March 2018. With 43.59% of the vote, the BJP secured a majority of seats (36) and subsequently formed the government with Biplab Kumar Deb as Chief Minister. The former governing Left Front alliance while receiving 44.35% of the vote secured only 16 seats.

Background

The term of the Tripura Legislative Assembly ended on 6 March 2018.[4] Having governed Tripura since the 1998 election, the ruling Left Front alliance, under Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, sought re-election. Meanwhile, the region in general had been under the political control of the CPI(M) for 25 years prior to the election, leading to the region being dubbed a "red holdout"[5] even when the 34-year uninterrupted rule of a CPI(M)-led alliance of Communist parties in West Bengal, the world's longest democratically elected Communist-led government, came to an end in 2011.

Their primary challengers came in the form of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which under the leadership of Narendra Modi was the governing party of India on a national level.[6] The BJP is a Hindu nationalist party, whose policies directly oppose those of the Communists.[7] However, the party claimed no seats, and a mere 1.5% of the vote, in the region's previous election.[8] Despite the relatively small size of Tripura, the election took on additional significance on a national level as it was an acid test to gauge the successes of the BJP ahead of the following year's general election,[9] and a chance to strip the communists, the party's "primary ideological enemy", of its stronghold.[5]

Prior to the election, a number of workers of the BJP were murdered. The BJP alleged that the murders were committed by CPI(M) members, which the party denies.[10][11][12]

Schedule

The Election Commission of India announced that the Legislative Assembly elections in Tripura would be held on 18 February 2018 and the results would be announced on 3 March 2018.[13]

Event Date Day
Date for nominations24 Jan 2018Wednesday
Last date for filing nominations31 Jan 2018Wednesday
Date for scrutiny of nominations1 Feb 2018Thursday
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures3 Feb 2018Saturday
Date of poll18 Feb 2018Sunday
Date of counting3 Mar 2018Saturday
Date before which the election shall be completed5 Mar 2018Monday

Electoral process changes

VVPAT-fitted EVMs was used in entire Tripura state in all polling stations in the 2018 elections, which was the first time that the entire state saw the implementation of VVPAT.[14]

The election took place in a single phase on 18 February 2018 with 89.8% voter turnout.[15] The results were announced on 3 March 2018.

Contesting parties

297 candidates registered to contest the election.

PartySymbol AllianceSeats contested
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) Left Front57
Communist Party of India (CPI) Left Front1
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Left Front1
All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) Left Front1
Indian National Congress (INC) UPA 59
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) NDA 51
Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) NDA 9
Independents (IND) 27
Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) 15
Tripura People's Party 7
Amra Bangali 23
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)
24
Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) 5
Tipraland State Party 9
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation 5
North East India Development Party 1
Pragatishil Amara Bangali Samaj 1
I.P.F.T Tiprahaa (Independent) 1
Total 297

Campaign

The other major force in the election was the Indian National Congress, who had taken 36.5% of the popular vote in the region in 2013.[16] They are also, on a wider scale, the largest force in opposing Modi and the BJP in parliament. As such, Rahul Gandhi, in his capacity as the party's leader, campaigned in the region.[17] They were determined to prevent the BJP from seizing control on the region, as such an outcome would represent the "demise of the Left".[18]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his campaign by stating that Tripura deserves a diamond but in order to get it, it must let go of the manik ('semi-precious stone' in Bengali, also a word play on the name of incumbent CM Manik Saha) stuck to it.

Exit Polls

Polling firm Date published
BJP+ CPI(M)+ INC Others
JanKiBaat-NewsX[19] 27 January 2018 35-45 14-23 - -
CVoter[19] 27 January 2018 24-32 26-34 0-2 -
AxisMyIndia[19] 27 January 2018 44-50 9-15 - 0-3
Dinraat[20] 27 January 2018 10-19 40-49

Results

The incumbent Left Front government was defeated after 25 years of office out of which Manik Sarkar served for about 20 years, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura winning a large majority of seats. The Indian National Congress, which was the second largest party in the 2013 election, lost all its seats and most of its vote share.

Results by party

Parties and coalitions Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Contested Won +/−
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 10,25,673 43.59% 51 36 Increase36
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) 9,93,605 42.22% 57 16 Decrease33
Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) 1,73,603 7.38% 9 8 Increase8
Indian National Congress (INC) 42,100 1.79% 59 0 Decrease10
Communist Party of India (CPI) 19,352 0.82% 1 0 Decrease1
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) 17,568 0.75% 1 0 Steady
Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) 16,940 0.72% 15 0 Steady
All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) 13,115 0.56% 1 0 Steady
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) 6,989 0.3% 24 0 Steady
Independents (IND) 25 0 Steady
Other parties and coalitions 0 Steady
None of the Above (NOTA) 24,220 1.03%
Total 23,53,246 100.00 60 ±0
Valid votes 23,53,246 99.81
Invalid votes 4,474 0.19
Votes cast / turnout 23,57,720 91.38
Abstentions 2,22,393 8.62
Registered voters 25,80,113

Results

No. Constituency Total votes Winner Party Votes % Runner-up Party Votes % Margin Margin (%)
1 Simna (ST) 32,648 Brishaketu Debbarma IPFT 15,977 48.9% Pranab Debbarma CPI (M) 14,014 42.9% 1,963 6.0%
2 Mohanpur 40,545 Ratan Lal Nath BJP 22,516 55.53% Subhas Chandra Debnath CPI (M) 17,340 42.77% 5,176 12.77%
3 Bamutia (SC) 39,923 Krishnadhan Das BJP 20,014 50.13% Haricharan Sarkar CPI (M) 19,042 47.70 972 2.43%
4 Barjala (SC) 39,005 Dilip Kumar Das BJP 22,052 56.54% Jhumu Sarkar CPI (M) 15,825 40.57% 6,227 15.96%
5 Khayerpur 44,675 Ratan Chakraborty BJP 25,496 57.07% Pabitra Kar CPI (M) 18,457 41.31% 7,039 15.76%
6 Agartala 44,249 Sudip Roy Barman BJP 25,234 57.03% Krishna Majumder CPI (M) 17,852 40.34% 7,382 16.68%
7 Ramnagar 38,251 Surajit Datta BJP 21,092 55.14% Ratan Das CPI (M) 16,237 42.45% 4,855 12.69%
8 Town Bordowali 38,913 Asish Kumar Saha BJP 24,293 62.43% Biswanath Saha AIFB 13,115 33.70% 11,178 28.73%
9 Banamalipur 35,163 Biplab Kumar Deb BJP 21,755 61.87% Amal Chakraborty CPI (M) 12,206 34.71% 9,549 27.16%
10 Majlishpur 43,117 Sushanta Chowdhury BJP 23,249 53.92% Manik Dey CPI (M) 19,359 44.90% 3,890 9.02%
11 Mandaibazar (ST) 40,075 Dhirendra Debbarma IPFT 21,381 53.35% Monoranjan Debbarma CPI (M) 15,517 38.72% 5,864 14.63%
12 Takarjala (ST) 34,814 Narendra Chandra Debbarma IPFT 22,056 63.35% Ramendra Debbarma CPI (M) 9,404 27.01% 12,652 36.34%
13 Pratapgarh (SC) 49,760 Rebati Mohan Das BJP 25,834 51.92% Ramu Das CPI (M) 22,686 45.59% 3,148 6.33%
14 Badharghat (SC) 52,566 Dilip Sarkar BJP 28,561 54.33% Jharna Das(Baidya) CPI (M) 23,113 43.97% 5,448 10.36%
15 Kamalasagar 36,815 Narayan Chandra Choudhury CPI (M) 18,847 51.19% Arun Bhowmik BJP 16,968 46.09% 1,879 5.10%
16 Bishalgarh 42,796 Bhanu Lal Saha CPI (M) 21,254 49.66% Nitai Chaudhuri BJP 20,488 47.87% 766 1.79%
17 Golaghati (ST) 35,856 Birendra Kishore Debbarma BJP 19,228 53.63% Keshab Debbarma CPI (M) 15,730 43.87% 3,498 9.76%
18 Suryamaninagar 46,238 Ram Prasad Paul BJP 24,874 53.80% Rajkumar Choudhury CPI (M) 20,307 43.92% 4,567 9.88%
19 Charilam (ST) Jishnu Deb Burman BJP 26,580 Palash Debbarma CPI (M) 1,030 25,550
20 Boxanagar 33,934 Sahid Choudhury CPI (M) 19,862 58.53% Baharul Islam Majumder BJP 11,847 34.91% 8,015 23.62%
21 Nalchar (SC) 38,895 Subhash Chandra Das BJP 19,261 49.52% Tapan Chandra Das CPI (M) 18,810 48.36% 451 1.16%
22 Sonamura 36,453 Shyamal Chakraborty CPI (M) 19,275 52.88% Subal Bhowmik BJP 15,843 43.46% 3,432 9.41%
23 Dhanpur 40,135 Manik Sarkar CPI (M) 22,176 55.25% Pratima Bhoumik BJP 16,735 41.70% 5,441 13.56%
24 Ramchandraghat (ST) 35,644 Prasanta Debbarma IPFT 19,439 54.54% Padma Kumar Debbarma CPI (M) 15,204 42.66% 4,235 11.88%
25 Khowai 39,061 Nirmal Biswas CPI (M) 20,629 52.81% Amit Rakshit BJP 17,893 45.81% 2,736 7.00%
26 Asharambari (ST) 32,897 Mevar Kumar Jamatia IPFT 19,188 58.33% Aghore Debbarma CPI (M) 12,201 37.09% 6,987 21.24%
27 Kalyanpur-Pramodenagar 38,306 Pinaki Das Choudhuri BJP 20,293 52.98% Manindra Chandra Das CPI (M) 17,152 44.78% 3,141 8.20%
28 Teliamura 38,173 Kalyani Roy BJP 22,077 57.83% Gouri Das CPI (M) 14,898 39.03% 7,179 18.81%
29 Krishnapur (ST) 32,073 Atul Debbarma BJP 16,730 52.16% Khagendra Jamatia CPI (M) 14,735 45.94% 1,995 6.22%
30 Bagma (ST) 46,409 Rampada Jamatia BJP 24,074 51.87% Naresh Chandra Jamatia CPI (M) 21,241 45.77% 2,833 6.10%
31 Radhakishorpur 41,248 Pranjit Singha Roy BJP 22,414 54.34% Srikanta Datta RSP 17,568 42.59% 4,846 11.75%
32 Matarbari 45,992 Biplab Kumar Ghosh BJP 23069 50.16% Madhab Chandra Saha CPI (M) 21500 46.75% 1569 3.41%
33 Kakraban-Salgarh (SC) 45,903 Ratan Bhowmik CPI (M) 24,835 54.10% Jitendra Majumder BJP 21,068 45.90% 3,767 8.21%
34 Rajnagar (SC) 39,316 Sudhan Das CPI (M) 22,004 55.97% Bibhishan Chandra Das BJP 16,291 41.44% 5,713 14.53%
35 Belonia 38,864 Arun Chandra Bhowmik BJP 19,307 49.68% Basudev Majumder CPI (M) 18,554 47.74% 753 1.94%
36 Santirbazar (ST) 41,812 Pramod Reang BJP 21,701 51.90% Manindra Reang CPI 19,352 46.28% 2,349 5.62%
37 Hrishyamukh 39,869 Badal Choudhury CPI (M) 22,673 56.87% Ashesh Baidya BJP 16,343 40.99% 6,330 15.88%
38 Jolaibari (ST) 41,866 Jashabir Tripura CPI (M) 21,160 50.54% Ankya Mog Choudhuri BJP 19,592 46.80% 1,568 3.75%
39 Manu (ST) 39,973 Pravat Chowdhury CPI (M) 19,432 48.61% Dhananjoy Tripura IPFT 19,239 48.13% 193 0.48%
40 Sabroom 40,759 Sankar Roy BJP 21,059 51.67% Rita Kar Majumder CPI (M) 18,877 46.31% 2,182 5.35%
41 Ampinagar (ST) 33,432 Sindhu Chandra Jamatia IPFT 18,202 54.44% Daniel Jamatia CPI (M) 13,255 39.65% 4,947 5.35%
42 Amarpur 37,847 Ranjit Das BJP 18,970 50.12% Parimal Debnath CPI (M) 17,954 47.44% 1,016 2.68%
43 Karbook (ST) 31,514 Burbu Mohan Tripura BJP 15,622 49.57% Priyamani Debbarma CPI (M) 14,825 47.04% 797 2.53%
44 Raima Valley (ST) 38,932 Dhananjay Tripura IPFT 18,673 47.96% Lalit Mohan Tripura CPI (M) 16,751 43.03% 1,922 4.94%
45 Kamalpur 38,418 Manoj Kanti Deb BJP 20,165 52.49% Bijoy Laxmi Singha CPI (M) 17,206 44.79% 2,959 7.70%
46 Surma (SC) 39,751 Ashish Das BJP 20,767 52.24% Anjan Das CPI (M) 18,057 45.43% 2,710 6.82%
47 Ambassa (ST) 41,227 Parimal Debbarma BJP 20,842 50.55% Bharat Reang CPI (M) 17,257 41.86% 3,585 8.70%
48 Karmachhara (ST) 34,527 Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl BJP 19,397 56.18% Umakanta Tripura CPI (M) 12,061 34.93% 7,336 21.25%
49 Chawamanu (ST) 34,509 Shambhulal Chakma BJP 18,290 53.00% Nirajoy Tripura CPI (M) 14,535 42.12% 3,755 10.88%
50 Pabiachhara (SC) 41,022 Bhagaban Das BJP 22,815 55.62% Samiran Malakar CPI (M) 16,988 41.41% 5,827 14.20%
51 Fatikroy (SC) 37,325 Sudhangshu Das BJP 19,512 52.28% Tunubala Malakar CPI (M) 16,683 44.70% 2,829 7.58%
52 Chandipur 38,305 Tapan Chakraborty CPI (M) 18,545 48.41% Kaberi Singha BJP 18,143 47.36% 402 1.05%
53 Kailashahar 39,357 Mabaswar Ali CPI (M) 18,093 45.97% Nitish De BJP 13,259 33.69% 4,834 12.28%
54 Kadamtala-Kurti 36,137 Islam Uddin CPI (M) 20,721 57.34% Tinku Roy BJP 13,839 38.30% 6,882 19.04%
55 Bagbassa 36,925 Bijita Nath CPI (M) 18,001 48.75% Pradip Kumar Nath BJP 17,731 48.02% 270 0.73%
56 Dharmanagar 36,444 Biswa Bandhu Sen BJP 21,357 58.60% Abhijit De CPI (M) 14,070 38.61% 7,287 20.00%
57 Jubarajnagar 36,851 Ramendra Chandra Debnath CPI (M) 18,147 49.24% Jadab Lal Debnath BJP 17,498 47.48% 649 1.76%
58 Panisagar 32,189 Binoy Bhushan Das BJP 15,892 49.37% Ajit Kumar Das CPI (M) 15,331 47.63% 561 1.74%
59 Pencharthal (ST) 35,376 Santana Chakma BJP 17,743 50.16% Anil Chakma CPI (M) 16,370 46.27% 1,373 3.88%
60 Kanchanpur (ST) 36,679 Prem Kumar Reang IPFT 19,448 53.02% Rajendra Reang CPI (M) 15,317 41.76% 4,131 11.26%

Highlights

No. of Constituencies

Type of Constituencies GEN SC ST Total
No. of Constituencies 30 10 20 60

[21]

Electors

Men Women Third gender Total
No.of Electors 1,311,983 1,268,119 11 2,580,113
No.of Electors who Voted 1,146,889 1,159,086 2 2,305,977
Polling Percentage 87.42% 91.40% 18.00% 89.38%

[21]

Performance of Women Candidates

Men Women Total
No.of Contestants 273 24 297
Elected 57 03 60

[21]

Reactions

The BJP chose Biplab Kumar Deb to be the next Chief Minister. He said: "I am ready to take the responsibility. I will not run away from taking the responsibility. I have already been given a bigger responsibility, the party's state presidentship, which I have been fulfilling to the best of my ability. People responded favourably to our call 'Chalo Paltai' (let's change)." He claimed that having the same party in the central government and at the state level "helps in faster development." He further called for restraint in post-electoral violence: "We do not believe in the politics of vengeance and hatred, so we appeal to the people to maintain peace and calm." In addition he asserted that "the word development does not exist in the dictionary of the CPI-M. Our government will provide good governance and time-bound implementation of all developmental works."[22]

Former Chief Minister of Kerala and senior CPI(M) leader V. S. Achuthanandan called for the party's leadership to ally with "secular forces" to defeat the Sangh Parivar: "The country is facing serious challenges. The Congress, which had ruled for decades in the post-independence period, has become weaker now. He supported party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury's call for an "understanding" with the INC as "a tactical move with secular forces was necessary."[23] The party's provincial minister claimed that the BJP had "misused" money and power at the central government in winning the election and that the "challenge to the democracy and the national integrity." Another CPM figure M. V. Jayarajan, private secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, claimed that the INC voters and leaders were moving towards the BJP and that the result should "not be viewed lightly and all the patriots in the country have the responsibility to check and isolate any effort of the communal forces gaining strength in the country.[23] Politburo member M. A. Baby said that while the result was "unexpected", he did "respect the verdict of the people." He added: "However, there is a decline of 6-7 per cent vote share of the Left front. It's a concern...how the erosion has taken place and why this happened will be dispassionately examined by the party in Tripura and the national leadership."[24]

Media

It was suggested that in order to defeat the BJP, other opposition parties would have to unite.[25]

Charilam bypoll

Polling for the seat of Charilam was postponed to 12 March 2018 after the death of Communist Party of India (Marxist) incumbent candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma. The CPI(M) withdrew their candidate for the bypoll claiming that there was an increase in violence.

Despite this, the CPI(M) candidate continued to be present on the ballot paper, and subsequently lost their deposit.[26][27]

Tripura Legislative Assembly Bypoll, 2018: Charilam[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJP Jishnu Deb Burman 26,580 90.81
CPI(M) Palash Debbarma 1030 3.51
INC Arjun Debbarma 775 2.64
INPT Uma Shankar Debbarma 685 2.34
Independent Jyotilal Debbarma 198 0.67 N/A
Majority 25,550 87.29 25550
Turnout
Registered electors
BJP gain from CPI(M) Swing

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tripura Assembly election results". statisticstimes.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Tripura General Legislative Election 2018". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  3. ↑ "Tripura Assembly Election 2018 LIVE: 78.56% Turnout Till 9 PM, Left Front's 25-Year-Long Run Faces BJP Challenge". NDTV. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  4. ↑ "Upcoming Elections in India". Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Conquest of Tripura". Archived from the original on 5 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Tripura polls: Communist cadres getting feel of competition from new foe BJP". United News of India. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  7. ↑ Banerjee, Sumanta (16–22 July 2005). "Civilising the BJP". Economic & Political Weekly. 40 (29): 3118. JSTOR 4416896.
  8. ↑ "Tripura election results 2018: Full list of winners". The Indian Express. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  9. ↑ "Modi ends communists' 25-year rule in provincial vote". South China Morning Post. 4 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "Tripura: Booth president found dead, BJP alleges 12 murders by CPM". 12 February 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "BJP worker hacked to death in poll-bound Tripura". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  12. ↑ Saikia, Arunabh. "In poll-bound Tripura, the BJP accuses the Left of Kerala-style political killings". Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Sumit Mukherjee (18 January 2018). "Announcement of schedule for General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, 2018 (English / हिंदी) - Press Releases 2018". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  14. ↑ "VVPAT training in Tripura". Archived from the original on 7 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "त्रिपुरा विधानसभा चुनाव में 89.8 प्रतिशत मतदान". NDTV. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  16. ↑ "What really helped BJP win Tripura". The Times of India.
  17. ↑ Ali, Syed Sajjad (16 February 2018). "Cong. committed to Tripura". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  18. ↑ "Strong Left necessary for India: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh". 4 March 2018.
  19. 1 2 3 "Exit polls predict BJP may win Tripura, consolidate position in Meghalaya and Nagaland". Times of India. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  20. ↑ PTI (1 March 2018). "Tripura awaits election results as exit polls fail to give clear picture". Live Mint. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  21. 1 2 3 "ECI". Election Commission of India.
  22. ↑ "Gym instructor-turned-politician Biplab Kumar Deb likely to be Tripura CM - Rediff.com India News". www.rediff.com.
  23. 1 2 "After Tripura Verdict, CPI(M) Says Defeat Should Be Viewed With Seriousness". PTI. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  24. ↑ "Defeat in Tripura should be viewed with seriousness: CPM". OnManorama.
  25. ↑ "What lessons the Tripura elections verdict holds for the Left". www.dailyo.in.
  26. ↑ "BJP wins Tripura's Charilam assembly contested by Deputy CM after post-poll violence delayed counting - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 15 March 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  27. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. ↑ "Polling underway in Charilam Assembly seat in Tripura". India Today. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
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